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HOW TO EVALUATE FINANCIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS?

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:38:17 +0100

Marcin Polak, the President of Think Point, was invited by the World Bank and the OECD to Washington, D.C., to discuss the effectiveness and evaluation topics of the economic and financial education initiatives.

The purpose of the workshop (Nov. 12-13) was to bring together some 40 leading experts from academia, research and private sector across the world to discuss topics related to how best to define financial literacy/capabilities, how to measure these and how to best evaluate the effectiveness of financial education and related programs. The expected outcome this guidance workshop is the conceptual approach and planning framework that will support the formulation of the next steps, including the drafting of Terms of Reference to initiate a competitive call for proposals among researchers and institutions to assist in developing the methodologies for the assessment of levels of financial capability and the evaluation of programs for their enhancement in low- and middle income countries.

PRESENTING POLISH EXPERIENCE TO RUSSIAN FEDERATION OFFICIALS

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:23:43 +0100

Marcin Polak, the President of Think Point, was invited by the World Bank and International Business Leader Forum to Moscow, to discuss financial literacy issues and present most effective educational initiatives.

“Financial literacy is a life skill – people should be educated from pre-school organizations to retirement. Financial education is a lifelong learning.” - said Polak during the Round Table on Financial Education. “Implementing just financial education at schools is not enough – as clearly US case shows. What is the effectiveness of education if on average a US college student has a debt of 25.000 USD? Adults are important target group too – their behavior is much more important for the economy. You should call for nationwide campaign to increase financial awareness and capability of adults.”

“Apply various means of communication, tools and methods that not only are appropriate for a specific target group. Mix this methods and tools in a single action, support interactivity, motivate your target group to engage in the action, repeat, evaluate, modify, combine, expand... Think in long time perspective.
These are key issues for the effectiveness of the financial literacy programs” - stressed Polak.

The Think Point’s presentation of Financial education in Poland is available at the Slidshare. Feel free to study it.

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION’s EXPERT GROUP ON FINANCIAL EDUCATION

Mon, 4 Aug 2008 13:16:52 +0200

Marcin Polak, the President of Think Point, was elected by the European Commission as a member of the Expert Group on Financial Education. The group is composed of 25 financial education practitioners and will aim to promote exchange of ideas, experiences and best practices. The group will advise the Commission on its policy-making in the area of financial education.