Remarks by Jeroo Billimoria
Aflatoun is an organization whose mission is to socially and financially empower children to enable them to break the cycle of poverty. The balanced approach to Child Social & Financial Education (CSFE) is what makes the Aflatoun concept so unique. The Aflatoun Curriculum is based on social, financial and entrepreneurial principles, refined over 17 years of research on the ground in India. In 2005, 10 pilot countries, from Argentina to Zimbabwe, tested whether Aflatoun could have a positive effect on children’s empowerment in other countries too. Today, Aflatoun is running in 22 countries worldwide and reaching 500,000 children worldwide, and growing every day. Aflatoun is now even available in over 12 languages, from Serbian to Arabic.
The Aflatoun Programme targets children ages 6-14 and is used in formal and non-formal education systems. The programme is designed to be engaging and child-friendly, and uses methods like songs, games and worksheets which put children at the centre of the learning process. As children develop their self-concept and experience their rights and responsibilities, they become more confident and start being aware of their central role in establishing change. The children also actively save, develop a savings habit, become financially literate, and actively engage in financial planning and budgeting.
In Aflatoun Clubs, in- and outside the classroom, children combine their learning to successfully set up small and profitable social and financial ventures. In the Ugandan Aflatoun Programme (PEDN), children produced recycled-paper bead necklaces and bracelets, wallets, baskets, dolls, cards and even made decorations out of used bottle tops as a waste management project. The products were sold at events like their end-of-year culmination events, Aflatoun
Sports Days, or during other special events the children organized under the guidance of their teachers. In the Philippines and Argentina, children set up small stationery stores where they sold school supplies started with seed money provided by Aflatoun. Participating students coordinated the whole process – budgeting, purchasing, stocking and selling at a profit. This money was divided monthly among the participating students.
Children and their teachers experience the great possibilities of setting up (small) enterprises themselves and together by applying their social and financial skills. More important even, they experience the great fun that comes being a changemaker and entrepreneur. Over half of the children in the Aflatoun programmes actively save, and in several Aflatoun programmes, school drop-out rates have reportedly dropped as Aflatoun enthused the kids to stay in school!
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