Following the success of its annual Finals last month, JAYE Malta will soon be participating in Skolasajf.

The Foundation, which has provided entrepreneurship education programmes to young people aged eight to 30 for more than three decades, will guide local children at the summer school for the third year using a ‘learning by doing’ approach.

“Skolasajf is an ideal environment for JAYE to help children learn, through play and teamwork, vital life skills that may not fit into the school year’s curriculum,” explains JAYE Malta CEO, Fiona Captur. “These skills will include basic money management, budgeting, how to prioritise and the economic benefits of staying in school.”

The initiative follows this year’s JAYE Malta National Finals, held online in May. The Finals are an opportunity for student teams from JAYE’s entrepreneurship programmes to present their work to expert independent judging panels, with winners going on to compete at various prestigious European competitions.

One such team this year was The Buddies from St Albert the Great College, which recently won the Global FinCap Challenge. The Maltese youths, aged from 12 to 16, bested teams from 12 other countries to win the award with their innovative financial savings app named ‘Saving Buddy Tool’, designed to address financial capability in young people regardless of their personal circumstances.

“Giving youths this type of global platform in front of industry experts allows them to turn what started as a simple idea – in this case, founded through playing a video game – into a reality that helps equip not only youths, but adults and institutions with the knowledge and support they need to achieve financial capability,” continues Ms Captur.

While planning to return its youth entrepreneurship programmes to a face-to-face environment as COVID-19 pandemic measures are gradually lifted, JAYE Malta is also set to host the ‘Social Innovation Challenge’. The one-day event, aimed at middle and senior school children, will focus on the importance of Net Zero Carbon and Green Architecture.

Likewise, a community project to bring financial literacy and capability skills closer to youths for informed, long-term financial wellness is currently in development. The Foundation is also set to soon introduce the concepts of credit scores and the importance of saving into its curriculum.

More information about JAYE Malta may be found online at www.jayemalta.org.