Taguig high school students wait to get their ATM cards for their new accounts where their stipends will be deposited. (Photo from the Taguig Public Information Office)
More than 2,000 high school students in Taguig City have received their school stipends through their new bank accounts in a bid to teach them to start saving early in their lives.
Students of Taguig Science High School and Sen. Renato “Comapañero‘ Cayetano High School started getting their ATM cards on March 21, under the Taguig local government’s Financial Literacy Program.
It aims to teach students “how to manafe their finances at an early age” and includes a two-day seminar last month led by Rosanna Coronel, assistant vice president of Landbank of the Philippines.
Under the program,the monthly P1,000 allowance given by the Taguig LGU will be deposited directly to their savings accounts. This can be spent for books, school projects and other school-related items.
“We want to discipline themselves when they receive their allowances,” said Rene Lopos, chief of the Policy and Scholarship Office.
“We wanted to create a culture where students have the proper skills that enable them to make effective and efficient decisions in handling their financial resources,” he added.
The ATM cards can still be used after their graduation in high school, if they become recipients of college and postgraduate scholarships of the city. /atm