On October 18, in collaboration with the National Bank of Georgia and the Administration of the Georgian President, the ISET Policy Institute hosted a presentation about the effectiveness of the “School-Bank” project, which continued with a round table discussion about financial literacy in Georgia.

During the event, the Governor of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG), Mr. Koba Gvenetadze, discussed the importance of financial literacy among the country’s youth, the effectiveness of the financial literacy School-Bank pilot project, and the experience of public schools and commercial banks in this process.

ISET’s research showed that after the “School-Bank” project, the average financial literacy level among school children increased. The improvement was recorded in the categories of financial knowledge and financial attitude, with no significant improvement in financial behavior observed. The study also showed that the gender gap in financial literacy is not observable. The piloted “School-Bank” project was more successful in Tbilisi schools than those outside Tbilisi. The empirical results found that there is a positive correlation between financial literacy and holding formal saving accounts.

At the end of the presentation, the participants discussed the scale-up of the School-Bank project and other financial literacy activities happening in Georgia in 2018, which is declared as a financial year by the Governor of the NBG.