[Sponsored Report] KB teaches economics and financial education

Children participating in the KB Star Economics and Finance Class make accessories before selling their items in a market activity.

KB Financial Group is reflecting its know-how as the leading financial group in the realm of economic and financial education for children, teenagers and university students.

KB Financial Group has designated “Economic Financial Education” as its main social contribution work in November 2011 and its subsidiary companies, such as KB Foundation, KB Kookmin Bank and KB Kookmin Card, have divided their parts and are conducting the educational programs.

This year, KB Financial Group will offer economic and financial education to 100,000 people through invitational, visiting and online classes. Toward this aim, KB established an “Economic Financial Education TF Team” in December under KB Financial Group. The TF Team is in charge of raising the teachers, developing educational content, organizing infrastructure, operating the program, finding new students, studying details of the operation method and working on it step by step.

In addition, “Jaeneung [Talent] Dream Volunteers” under the social volunteer group “KB Star Dream Volunteers” will also school 500 teachers in the ways of economics and finance. For this even the retired employees of KB are taking part in this education volunteer work and all of KB’s families have set up a cooperating system and actively participate.

KB is also using its guidebooks and training aids for teachers as well as learning materials. Its TF Team came up with the conclusion at the end of last year that the current textbooks were for theory-based lectures, and after five months of effort to develop its own textbooks it now offers 32 volumes of standardized education content, including student textbooks, lecture notes, classroom game collections and teacher guidebooks.

The uniqueness of this educational content is that it is designed to unite theory and experience, featuring differentiated content based on real, live situations. Since the game content is designed with board games and card games so the students can learn by participating in groups, KB has maximized the learning effect by adding exciting experiences.

And KB has already begun. From February 4 to May 19 for four times KB Financial Group and KB Foundation held its “KB Star Economics and Finance Class” at the KB Kookmin Bank Yeouido main branch and KB Kookmin Card Gwanghwamun headquarters, inviting 50 elementary students from Seoul and urban areas for each class, involving 200 students in all.

And as the five-day school week has begun this year, the KB Star Economics and Finance Class will use the newly available Saturdays, inviting elementary students to the learning center with all the economics and financial education equipment to conduct experience-based education programs. The participants will make and deliver stationeries and accessories to the store within the learning center and earn an income. The students will also get a chance to use bank books and money at the bank and shops within the learning center and learn about earning, saving, consuming, managing their allowance and donating, all steps of economics and financial activities through real experience.

KB Financial Group President Lim Young-rok said, “Economics and financial education is the essential aid the socially weak need to break out of the poverty chain and become healthy members of society. Through these pilot classes, KB Financial Group will add speed to prepare a more systematic and efficient economics and financial education network and to develop more programs.”

By Lee Ji-hyun [concordia@joongang.co.kr]