Kyiv, Ukraine (February 10, 2015 р.) – Acting Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Vladyslav Rashkovan and Mr Jonathan Katz, Deputy Assistant Administrator for the USAID's Bureau for Europe and Eurasia welcomed the high school student winners of the competition entitled "Save up!" at the awarding ceremony held at the NBU Money Museum.
The second annual competition to create the best video entitled "Save up!" was organized by the Financial Sector Development Program (USAID/ FINREP-II) and the National Bank of Ukraine as part of the All-Ukrainian Financial Literacy Week and the celebration of World Savings Day in Ukraine. Tenth grade high school students were offered an opportunity to try themselves as film directors, cameramen and actors. 39 teams from 17 regions of Ukraine participated in the completion. Under the terms of the competition, each team had to create a two-minute video explaining why and how it is necessary to save money and how to set it aside and control one's own expenses in order to meet one's financial targets.
The panel of jury members, comprising representatives of the NBU, USAID, Financial Sector Development Program (USAID/ FINREP-II), and the Institute of Innovative Technology and Content of Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine assessed the competition entries based on the 4 criteria: video content, ingenuity, technical and artistic solution, design, and production quality.
The team representing specialized school No 13 (Dnipropetrovsk) comprising Illya Nikolskyi and Anton Riabchuk has won the first prize. The second prize has been awarded to the team from the Horodyshche Economic Lyceum (Cherkasy oblast) consisting of Maksym Uzefovych and Inna Dudnyk. The team representing secondary comprehensive school No. 23 (Rivne) comprising Viktoriia Babych and Iryna Abramovych has won the third prize.
In his welcome speech to the winners, Vladyslav Rashkovan thanked the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for its support of the talented young Ukrainians and the educational events initiated by the National Bank of Ukraine and gave his backing to the main idea of the competition that consists in showing the importance of the savings culture and promoting rational financial behavior. "We live in times when our bright financial future hinges on our sound financial decisions. You should have an understanding of when to take a loan and which instruments to use to save money. It is great that children, young Ukrainians are aware of the importance of financial literacy. I hope that you will further develop your savings skills as was featured in your video clips," said Vladyslav Rashkovan.
Mr Jonathan Katz, the honorable guest at the awarding ceremony thanked the NBU for its efforts to increase the level of financial literacy among the Ukrainian public and on behalf of the USAID greeted the Video Competition winners. "It is a great pleasure for me to take part in this ceremony as I am convinced that thanks to these competitions the financial education helps schoolchildren find their way towards financial success. Every person must understand that saving money is the key aspect of planning their own life. Therefore, try to develop good financial skills and give top priority to setting aside money for savings eventually will help you achieve financial goals in your life," said Mr Jonathan Katz.
For reference: The Video Competition was held among Ukrainian high school students taking the Financial Literacy Course. The competition was run by the USAID Financial Sector Development Program (USAID/FINREP-II) under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the National Bank of Ukraine. The Financial Literacy Course is intended for tenth grade high school students and designed to build practical skills enabling the youth to manage their own finances, cultivate responsible financial behavior, and prepare school children for adult life. In 2014-2015, over 18, 000 school children in more than 650 secondary comprehensive schools across Ukraine take an optional Financial Literacy Course.