P

eople'€™s interest in opening savings accounts in 38 cities and regencies in East Java remains low, as only 54.05 percent of the province'€™s 37 million residents have savings accounts due to a lack of financial education.

Deputy head of Bank Indonesia'€™s (BI) East Java branch, Soekowardojo, said the majority of people in the Besuki area in East Java were yet to save their money in bank accounts, while only 37.9 percent of residents in Jember, Bondowoso, Banyuwangi and Situbondo municipalities had savings accounts.

'€œOf the 5.3 million residents in the municipalities, only 1.92 million deposit their money in the bank, despite the fact that the Besuki area is home to 117 financial institutions, comprising 44 public bank branches, 53 rural bank [BPR] headquarters and 20 BPR branches across 95 districts,'€ Soekowardojo said recently.

He said that it would take joint efforts and strategies on the part of the financial institutions, especially banks, to encourage people to save their money with the banks and offer them easy access.

Ida Bagus Juli, a child education observer with NGO Plan Indonesia, said the lack of interest among people to deposit their money in banks correlated to the generally low ability among Indonesian school students in financial management.

'€œOur senior high school students'€™ knowledge on financial management is very low compared to neighboring countries in Southeast Asia. For example, only 23 percent of our students is aware of the importance of managing their pocket money, compared to those in Thailand, who total 71 percent,'€ Ida said.

This is in stark contrast to the majority of students in urban areas, for instance, who own more than one cell phone.

'€œFinancial education is thus far only available in higher learning institutions or vocational schools, which are related to cooperatives. No such curriculum is available for senior high schools,'€ he said.

'€œFinancial education should be included in the senior high school competence-based curriculum, the contents of which should include learning how to budget, economize and open small enterprises.'€

Ida suggested that the government, through the Education and Culture Ministry, should add a module on financial management in the senior high school curriculum.

Meanwhile, as a way to encourage children to save money, the Prestasi Junior Indonesia (PJI) foundation, along with Plan Indonesia, has initiated a financial education program using a '€œTraining the Trainers'€ method aimed at teachers.

According to PJI program manager Vitis Rakhma Noviagama, the program uses Fun Financial Education (Findu) materials in class that are presented by peer educators in an effort to develop a culture of saving among children from an early age.

'€œThe program'€™s participants are expected to be able to encourage their peers to act smart and wise in managing their personal finances, and to train students to have a sense of enterprise by practicing business in school,'€ Vitis said.

The financial education program is part of the second program in the 2013-2014 period. Previously, a program called Urban Youth Financial Education was implemented in 10 senior high and vocational schools in 2012-2013.