As future leaders of Mongolia, it's important for children to learn personal finance and master the basics of financial literacy. According to the 2009 and 2010 statistic research of Mongolia, a family income has mostly been spent on luxurious goods that have no economic outcome. Many Mongolian students lack the knowledge necessary to make sound financial choices. The FLAME project will provide fundamental tools for living for secondary school students in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar.
Mongolian secondary schools do not offer Personal Finance courses. And there are not many people or organizations shaping children's relationship with money, and focusing on helping them develop the skills and habits that will serve them throughout their lives. Children lack the knowledge of spending money for their future, thus they usually spend it on sweets and entertainment. Their parents and teachers do not pay attention to how they spend their money either.
An online survey from National Authority for Children shows that 37.2% of the parents give daily pocket money of 40-70 cents (USD) to their children. The aim of the project is to teach children how their pocket money is generated and how their parents earn it. We will also provide children with "Kids' Cashbook", so that they can keep track of their income and expenses. Therefore, children will be able to maintain a budget and track their expenses, the basic elements of financial stability.
With the outcome of the FLAME project, 1000 school children and their parents will understand that financial literacy is an important life skill that should be learnt as early as possible. As a result, there will be more contributions to the disadvantaged children to become responsible citizen and future entrepreneurs by obtaining financial education, tracking expenses and learning about the time value of money.
This project has provided additional documentation in a Microsoft Word file (projdoc.doc).