FINDINGS of a survey conducted by the Women Entrepreneurship Program (WEP), a partnership between the Let's Go Foundation and GE Money Bank, indicate that there is low awareness of finance and money management among the Filipino women surveyed.

The survey, conducted with female entrepreneurs and female college students, show that while the majority of students express a considerable interest toward entrepreneurship, they lack the basic understanding to participate in these endeavors, with over 78 percent of those surveyed reporting that they have not been exposed to a formal business-management or entrepreneurship course during their stay in college.

In line with its mission to teach and inspire more female students to take on the torch of entrepreneurship, WEP announced the launch of the Funance interactive teaching tool that was designed to help bridge the finance knowledge gap in the Philippines.

"Even before they start studying finance, most students are already hesitant to do so. Funance is a fun way to learn and remember important concepts," said Carlo Calimon, program manager of the Let's Go Foundation.

"Funance shows that there's an easier way to teach and learn Finance. The game is very hands-on and engages students in a fun and entertaining way to make the learning meaningful and relevant."

Funance is a comprehensive series of videos, board games and case studies consisting of three core components: Definition of Terms, which guides players through the Balance Sheet and Income Statement; Building a Case, which instructs players on how to develop a Balance Sheet and Income Statement based on transactional cards; and Cash Flow, a board game that teaches cash management.

Funance started out as a concept developed by Prof. Maurino Bolante, a finace professor at AIM, together with Prof. Jay Bernardo, the founder of Let's Go Foundation.

Calimon, as well as Reggie Santos, also added significant inputs in the development of the game.

Funance will be rolled out to pilot schools in the next school year starting in June, with plan to extend its reach to more schools in the coming months after June.

There are also plans to make it available to non-government organizations, such as cooperatives, who want to teach women's groups the basics of finance.

Back to Top