In Spain, the Global Financial Literacy Plan is run through the Valores de futuro (Future Values) program, which is a global educational response for elementary school and ESO-level children (7-14 years). It aims to improve the education of children in the skills and values associated with the use of money, such as responsibility, prudence, saving, effort and solidarity. It is one of the biggest private initiatives of its kind in the world. The program is given in Spanish schools during school hours. It consists of a set of classroom activities supervised by teachers. The educational material supplied focuses on people, their values and their skills. It has been developed using innovative educational techniques to encourage the participation of students and their teachers through reflection and self-learning.
“Valores de future” has the backing of a scientific committee that reflects on and discusses the program and its continuous enrichment from an expert, objective and multidisciplinary perspective. BBVA employees have a very important role in this program as volunteers who give the workshops in the participating schools. Their participation is key to the success of the first part of this campaign, during which more than 500 volunteers have taken part in over 700 sessions in the 2009-2110 academic year, its first year in operation. A network of teachers has also been created with more than 120 associates, A total of 1,734 schools and 334,440 school students have taken part across the whole of Spain.
For the 2010-2011 academic year (the second year of the program) BBVA has decided to enhance the plan and reach out to more children. This will be done by extending the scope of action to areas that are within a radius of 20 kilometers from provincial capitals. The program has also been extended to Portugal, where it is already in place in Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra. In addition, the program offers other major innovations, including an online community where pupils, schools, family members and friends can get involved in the project’s various initiatives and competitions; and the Ahorro para todos (Savings for all) pilot project which is being organized by 10 schools in Madrid with the aim of implementing real collective saving plans in these schools involving all the students, staff and other workers. A total of 3,600 schools and 680,000 students are expected to take part in Spain and Portugal, double the figure for the 2009/10 year.