August 29, 2014

Press Release No. 1

NSE to Offer Financial Literacy Course in Himachal Pradesh Schools

SHIMLA: India’s leading stock exchange, the National Stock Exchange, has entered into a partnership with the government of Himachal Pradesh to introduce a financial literacy course for students in high schools that will make them financially aware from a young age and help them understand important concepts like savings and investments.

To kick-start this initiative, a two-day workshop and training programme for teachers and principals of schools was held in Shimla today, which was inaugurated by Mr Ali Raza Rizvi, Principal Secretary (Education), Govt. of Himachal Pradesh and Mr Shasi Bhusan, Director, Directorate of Higher Education, Himachal Pradesh. This workshop has been designed by NSE to help teachers effectively teach the financial literacy course to their students. A similar workshop will be held in Solan on September 1-2.

The financial literacy course has been developed for students in class IX and X. It will be introduced on a pilot basis in about 100 schools in Shimla and Solan districts in places like Basantpur, Chopal, Kasauli, Deothi and others from the 2014-15 academic sessions and will be extended to 1000 schools in the 2015-16 academic sessions.

Mr. Ravi Varanasi, Head Business Development at NSE said, “NSE feels very strongly that students should start learning about finance and the practical aspects of savings and investments at a young age so that these life skills are inculcated in them in their late teens. This will help them when they grow up to manage their finances better and empower them to plan for their financial goals more effectively. We are grateful to the Himachal Pradesh government that they have given full support to start the initiative in the schools.”

As a part of this course, students will learn about income, expenses, importance of savings, banking, basics of financial planning, investing, money management, setting financial goals, etc. NSE will provide free books on these topics to the students. Students of class IX will have to complete the course within a maximum time of 40 hours. The content for class X students will offer more in-depth knowledge on these topics.

The objective of this initiative is to help students instil the habit of savings from a young age and to develop financial and investment capabilities. This initiative is unique because it helps to instil a necessary life skill in the young minds and prepare them for the future even before they have begun their professional career. Close to 30,000 students are expected to benefit from this initiative in the pilot phase. This initiative will be introduced in 1000 schools across the state from the next academic year (2015-16).

NSE has similar partnerships in Tamil Nadu, Nagaland, Assam and Uttarakhand. The exchange also offers a Financial Markets Management course to class XI and XII students in schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) since 2007. It is being run in 55 schools across the country in cities like Jaipur, Allahabad, Patna, Mandi, Bhubaneswar, Jamshedpur and others. Apart from courses for school students, NSE has tied up with colleges and universities to offer MBA and PG Diploma courses in financial markets.