The financial skills and knowledge of Maltese teenage students excelled once more during the European Money Quiz (EMQ) 2022, which was held recently and organised by the European Banking Federation (EBF). In fact, the two Maltese students representing Malta during this online event – 15-year old Elisa Jane Bonnici and 14-year old Pamela Sammut – placed fifth amongst 29 participating European nations.
Elisa Jane attends Our Lady Immaculate secondary school in Hamrun, while Pamela attends St Thomas More College – Zejtun secondary school. Both students represented Malta in this event after winning an online national competition held amongst secondary school students from state, church and private schools. In preparation for the EBF’s EMQ, the national competition was organised by the Malta Bankers Association (MBA) in March this year in collaboration with staff from the Directorate for Learning and Assessment Programmes (DLAP) Department for Curriculum, Research, Innovation and Lifelong Learning, including Ms Joanne Zammit, Education Officer for Accounting, Business Studies.
EMQ is Europe’s biggest financial literacy competition for 13 to 15-year-old students, attracting up to a million plays annually in up to 28 European countries via the Kahoot! platform. Launched alongside the European Money Week (EMW) campaign in 2017, the EMQ is part of the EBF’s financial literacy initiatives, casting a spotlight on the importance of financial education for young people to lead a better and more secure life.
Elisa Jane and Pamela, alongside the respective participants from the other countries, had to answer 20 questions on financial skills which are aligned with the OECD/INFE guidelines and core competencies on financial literacy for the youth, including questions on sustainability, online scams, budgeting, as well as cryptocurrencies.
Having placed amongst the top five countries, Elisa Jane and Pamela will be invited by the EBF for a two-day trip to Brussels on 20 and 21 June 2022. This trip will include visits to European Parliament, the visitors’ centre of the European Parliament known as the Parliamentarium, House of European History which is a museum focusing on the history of Europe, amongst other activities.
MBA’s Secretary General Karol Gabarretta congratulated Malta’s representatives and awarded them prizes.
Malta’s participation in the EMQ is part of the European Money Week events held every year. This year was the eighth consecutive year that the MBA organised a series of events and activities in Malta in conjunction with EMW, which was held in March. EMW focused on financial education and raised awareness amongst students about money and personal finances.