Cryptocurrency and Block Chain Technology have been expanding continuously in the past few years, and young professionals find themselves in front of new technologies, wondering about their use. At the same time, financial literacy has become ever more necessary and keeps developing to further the inclusion of aspiring children and youth into the growing job market.
Through the joint collaboration between ORCA and Aflatoun, we developed a cryptocurrency and blockchain curriculum that will allow young people to make informed decisions, know the risks, and acquire knowledge on the different aspects of this new tool. Our local partners, CED in Vietnam and Stepping Stones International in Botswana, have started piloting the curriculum with students. This has served as an innovative step in testing our curriculum across schools in our Asia and Anglophone Africa regions.
The implementation took place over the past months and was characterized by a series of training sessions for facilitators and school/university students in Vietnam and Botswana. In these sessions, participants were acquainted with terms like cryptocurrency, decentralized finance, NFT, and blockchain technology. The aim was to erase notions of misinformation and confusion and empower users by reinforcing their knowledge of these online technology tools by assessing the risks and benefits.
As a result, the piloting proved to be a fruitful experience for students and facilitators to educate children and youth on these topics and help them develop critical thinking and financial literacy skills.
The Outreach in Vietnam
“The sessions were interactive, engaging, and fun. We used games, quizzes, videos, case studies, and discussions to make the learning process enjoyable and memorable. We also encouraged the participants to ask questions, share their opinions, and challenge their assumptions. We were impressed by the curiosity, enthusiasm, and openness of the participants. They showed much interest in learning more about these topics and exploring their potential,” – a facilitator from Hanoi, Vietnam.