News Release

Vancouver - Grade 10 students and their teachers throughout British Columbia have given a positive grade to a cutting edge multi-media teaching resource that helps students learn financial life skills.

Recent surveys of students and teachers found that "The City: Financial Life Skills" resource, introduced by the BC Securities Commission two years ago in classrooms across the province, is gaining in popularity. The course helps students learn important concepts such as budgeting, savings and investing. Eighty per cent of the teachers rated the resource positively and intend to use it again, while 85 per cent of students gave the course a grade of B or higher. The survey results were announced at an event for students, parents and teachers at Mount Boucherie Secondary school in Kelowna today.

"What these survey results tell us is that the students are effectively learning from this program - they get the concepts," says BCSC Chair Doug Hyndman. Since the BCSC course was introduced in November 2004, over 1,200 teachers in all 60 school districts have requested the teaching resource.

The resource's innovative approach blends the use of fictional characters with real-life financial activities and decisions in a hands-on, activity-based format. As each financial topic is introduced, students learn the concepts and information through eight "lifestage characters" each facing different financial circumstances.

"This is definitely a unique and fun way for students to learn about finances," says Kathy Weninger, a Planning 10 teacher and Vice Principal at Mount Boucherie Secondary School in Kelowna. "The fictional characters definitely provide an innovative way for students to experience a variety of financial situations they may encounter throughout their lives."

The financial life skills resource is part of a number of investor education programs offered through the BCSC InvestRight program. Additional information on InvestRight can be found at www.InvestRight.org. 

The BC Securities Commission is the independent provincial government agency responsible for regulating trading in securities within the province.

Backgrounder

In July 2006, the commission assessed the effectiveness of its resource by measuring the knowledge and attitudes of students before and after they attended the course. The findings show:

• A majority of the students found the topics interesting and engaging
• 85 per cent of students gave the course a grade of B or higher
• Students found almost all of the topics easy to understand
• After taking the course, students are much more likely to see financial planning as personally relevant to them and are more aware of their vulnerability to fraud

In May 2005 and 2006, the commission surveyed teachers about their use of and satisfaction with the resource. The surveys revealed:

• Many teachers said they personally learned something by using the BCSC materials
• Over 80 per cent of the teachers rated the resource positively and intend to use it again
• 77 per cent gave positive feedback on the BCSC website

The BCSC resource has won a number of awards including:

• 2005 Gold from the Canadian Marketing Association
• 2005 Golden Reel from the Media Communications Association International (for the DVD)
• 2006 Gold Quill Merit from the International Association of Business Communicators