Award-winning “Training the Trainer” education initiative brings financial smarts to the community
Dr Tan Weiqiang, third from right, and Professor Christina Yu Wai-mui, second from right, represent the team as they receive the trophy from Mr Christopher Hui Ching-yu, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury.
The Department of Social Sciences and Policy Studies’ Financial Education Team, comprising Professor Christina Yu Wai-mui, Dr Eric Law Kim-fai, Dr Ray Lee Kwok-wai, and Dr Tan Weiqiang, has been awarded the Bronze prize (Teaching Division) at the Investor and Financial Education Award 2024 (IFEA 2024) by the Investor and Financial Education Council (IFEC) under the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). The award was presented by Mr Christopher Hui Ching-yu, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, in March.
The winning initiative, “On-Campus Project of ‘Training the Trainer’ to enhance the Financial Well-being of the Hong Kong Society”, focused on equipping student trainers with essential financial knowledge and teaching skills. These students from the Masters of Arts in Personal Finance Education (MA(PFE)) programme developed educational materials and organised financial education activities both on campus and within the community.
Ms Yang Haoyan, an alumna now working in Hong Kong’s wealth management sector, reflected on her experience in the programme. She noted that the MA(PFE) encouraged creative approaches to promoting financial literacy. “During my studies, my classmates and I designed various board games to teach personal finance concepts at parent-child activities and other community engagement events. I also managed a booth to promote the importance of financial education during an Alumni Day event on the Taipo campus,” Haoyan said.
“Many citizens living in grassroot communities such as Sham Shui Po only have limited knowledge of personal finance. They often don’t know how to create a savings and expenditure plan for their medium and long-term needs. We used Monopoly to introduce concepts such as risk, savings, and investment. I am pleased that our activities helped participants understand the importance of emergency savings, insurance, and investing to protect their wealth,” she said.
Under the guidance of student trainers from the MA(PFE) programme, participants learn financial concepts by playing a board game at a community event.
Mr Zhang Jingze, now employed at a Shenzhen branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, is another alumni of the MA(PFE) programme. He said the master’s course not only enriched his understanding about personal finance and investment but taught him many innovative ideas about using unconventional means like games and group activities to promote financial education. “From my involvement in community engagement events, I observed that interactive games are more effective in teaching personal finance than traditional lectures,” he said.
Jingze said that the one-year MA(PFE) programme has offered him a wealth of practical opportunities to reinforce what he learnt in the classroom. “Through numerous internship placements and various community engagement events over the one-year studies, what I’ve gained from the programme goes far beyond textbook knowledge. It has sharpened my practical skills and enhanced my ability to apply my learning to solve real-life problems,” he said.
Mr Zhang Jingze, second from right, and his team manage a booth to promote financial literacy during Alumni Day.
The young graduate said in recent years, electronic frauds are very prevalent in Hong Kong and on the mainland. “I felt sad that many people fall victim to these frauds. To protect ourselves, it is vital for us to acquire basic financial knowledge. The MA(PFE) programme plays a vital role in making financial knowledge more approachable and accessible, empowering everyone to become a financial educator,” he added.
We believe that through teaching financial knowledge in communities, non-local students can know more about Hong Kong society.
“The Financial Education Team is very close-knit. We work very closely on various personal finance programmes offered by the department in nurturing future financial educators. A key aspect of the MA(PFE) programme is providing students with hands-on experience in teaching financial literacy. We believe that through teaching financial knowledge in communities, non-local students, which makes up a majority of the programme intake, can know more about Hong Kong society and become more inclined to stay and work in Hong Kong,” Dr Tan, Associate Professor from the Department of Social Sciences and Policy Studies and MA(PFE) programme leader, said.
Click here to understand more about the MA(PFE) programme, and here to understand the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Personal Finance programme.
