Specialists of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic held field lectures for the school children of the Issyk-Kul region  

Educational lectures aimed at improving the financial literacy of the population were carried out by experts of the National Bank in Cholpon-Ata and Karakol of the Issyk Kul region of the Kyrgyz Republic as part of the Global Money Week, which started in the country in March 10, 2015. In total, 160 people took part in the training.  

Employees of the National Bank spoke about the basics of financial literacy to the foster children of the SOS Children's Village Cholpon-Ata and school children of 7-11 grades of the school-complex "Bilim Ordo" named after A. Osmonov (Cholpon Ata), as well as students of the Karakol Pedagogical College named after I. Biybolsunov and high school students of the school-lyceum named after T. Satylganov (Karakol). During the lecture the specialists of the National Bank told the audience what the financial literacy is, how to allocate own budget, how important it is to carefully treat the national currency. In order to make the information as accessible as possible, the lecturers provided interactive presentations with the life examples.  

"Education, abilities and talent - is your best advantage. If you will use your knowledge in a right way, you can convert them into capital," said a leading lawyer of the rights of consumers of banking and microfinance services division of the Legal Department of the National Bank Mr. Emir Boobekov.  

An officer of the Department of External Oversight on non-financial credit institutions of the Department of External Oversight of the National Bank Mr. Adilet Nurlanov spoke in detail on the ways of saving money and financial products offered by financial institutions today. He also spoke about the common problems faced by citizens when receiving a loan, listed to the audience the so-called "golden rules" of the borrower. They devoted a separate discussion for the topic of deposits, focusing on the selection criteria of financial institutions for opening a deposit account.  

Another important part of the lecture was devoted to the topic of the national currency of Kyrgyzstan - the children were told the history of the emergence of Som; the security features of banknotes were clearly demonstrated.  

Mr. Maksat Dushenbiev, a specialist of the analysis and development of payment systems division of the Department of payment systems of the National Bank, told the students about the modern methods of payments, types of payment systems and bank cards.  

An Assistant Director of the SOS Children's Village Cholpon-Ata Ms. Aliya Galieva thanked the National Bank for organizing the events and noted that such lectures are very important for the younger generation.  

"For each of our foster children money is provided, thus our children need to know how to wisely spend and use their money. I think that out of the lectures held by employees of the National Bank our foster children learned a lot of useful and interesting information for themselves," said Ms. Aliya Galieva.  

A foster child of the SOS Children's Village Cholpon-Ata, a student of the 11th grade Ms. Elmira Myrzabekova dreams of becoming a doctor and believes that all people, regardless of the status and profession, should be financially literate. She hopes that by the end of the training activities of the National Bank, many school children will start thinking and stop wasting money, will treat them with more care.  

A sophomore of the Karakol Pedagogical College Ms. Ainagul Doolotbekova told that before attending the lecture, the topic of financial literacy was new to her.  

"Before that, we thought that through the National Bank one could take a loan, make remittances, exchange the money. Now we know, in which way the National Bank is different from other banks, and that it does not engage in commercial activity. The specialists of the National Bank answered our questions in a clearly accessible way. I think that this knowledge will be useful for us in our life," added Ainagul.  

A student of the 10th grade of the school-lyceum named after T. Satylganov Mr. Nursultan Zhumadylov has become interested in the modern payment systems. Currently, the teenager does not have a payment card, but in the future plans to use cards for convenience and safety.  

The school children and students throughout the lectures received detailed answers from experts on all of their questions. Now they know how to use the internet banking, and what is required in order to open a deposit account in the bank, what to do in case of a loss of the payment card, and many more.  

Following the meeting, the lecturers urged the school children to take part in the national competition for the best essays, poems and drawings, announced by the National Bank as part of a campaign on raising financial literacy of the population.  

Employees of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic continue to conduct field lectures to improve the financial literacy of the population. The training sessions are already conducted in Bishkek and Chui, Talas, Issyk Kul oblasts of the Kyrgyz Republic, which were attended by more than 600 children and businessmen. In the near future, similar events will be held in Osh, Jalal Abad and Batken oblasts of the Kyrgyz Republic.