Kuala Lumpur, 20 November 2013: Perbadanan Insurans Deposit Malaysia (PIDM) today awarded SMK Tun Hussein Onn from Seberang Jaya, Penang with its top prize for the PIDM MoneySmart School Challenge 2013. The school beat four other finalists to win prizes worth RM15,000 in the nationwide education programme organised by PIDM in collaboration with the Ministry of Education (MOE).
With the theme “Bijak Mengurus Wang”, the champion team successfully engaged schoolmates, parents and the local community in their project and activities to promote financially savvy habits, and also impressed the judges with their leadership capability and presentation skills.
“The PIDM Project MoneySmart was introduced in 2010 with the cooperation of the MOE as part of the Corporation’s financial education initiatives. It is aimed at enhancing financial awareness and literacy among students in secondary schools and institutions of higher learning,” said Mr JP Sabourin, PIDM Chief Executive Officer.
“He pointed out that as at end of 2013, the programme has directly benefitted about 500,000 students and 3,000 teachers from 1,500 schools and 150 institutions of higher learning.
“PIDM’s education programme is in line with one of the objectives in the National Education Development Plan (PPPM) 2013 – 2025 to enhance students’ learning process from “school learning” to a more holistic “learning ecosystem” involving parents and the society as well as the private and social sectors.
“We initiated the PIDM MoneySmart School Challenge to encourage students to work in teams and come up with financially savvy activities for their schools and local communities. This year, a total of 79 schools took part in the Challenge and the selected teams have gone through the Quarterfinals and Semifinals before ending with the Finals round of judging yesterday,” said Mr Sabourin.
“Apart from the top prize, second place was awarded to SMK St Joseph (M) Papar, Sabah earning them prizes worth RM10,000 for their project entitled “Bijak Belanja”, while third place went to SMK Bandar Baru Bangi, Bangi, Selangor winning RM7,000 in prizes for their theme “Bijak Urus Wang, Kehidupan Sejahtera”. Fourth prize went to SMK LKTP Kahang Timur, Kluang, Johor and fifth placing went to SMK Bedong, Bedong, Kedah.
The five finalists received their prizes in Kuala Lumpur today at the PIDM Project MoneySmart Education Programme 2013 Awards and Recognition Ceremony officiated by the Deputy Director General of Education (Education Operations), Dato’ Haji Sufa’at Bin Tumin.
“In the School Challenge, teams upload their project activities on the PIDM Project MoneySmart Facebook page to gain votes through the highest number of “Likes” and “Shares” of the school’s project album to qualify to the next stage. The competition, which started in April 2013, ended with the five finalist teams. In addition, the Top Supporters on Facebook for the Quarterfinal and Semifinal stage have won prizes.
Other than Facebook voting, team projects were also judged based on their impact towards creating financial awareness in their schools and surrounding communities, creativity, involvement of the school and community members, quality of their final report and photographs uploaded.
“Teachers who played a key role in guiding their students in the School Challenge are also recognised as PIDM Ambassadors. These teachers are selected based on their contribution and achievement towards enhancing community awareness on financial literacy. We are pleased to honour the top 16 Ambassadors today,” said Mr Sabourin.
“Besides the School Challenge, PIDM also conducts the Photography Competition 2013 and the PIDM MoneySmart Online Game 2013 for students through the PIDM Project MoneySmart Facebook page. Both competitions will end on 30 November 2013.
For more information about this press release, kindly contact:
Rozita Ahmad, General Manager, Communications and Public Affairs Division (Tel: 03-2173 7455; Email: rozita@pidm.gov.my)
Juli Murshidah, Manager, Communications and Public Affairs Division (Tel: 03-2173 7465; Email: juli@pidm.gov.my)
For further information: