Building financial inclusion for youth in PNG

Implementation of CUFA’s Children’s Financial Literacy (CFL) activities at Coronation Primary School in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, is now largely complete, with one remaining activity scheduled for 2026. This final activity involves inviting the Bank of South Pacific (BSP) to visit classrooms to support students in opening bank accounts. While the CUFA PNG team and BSP attended the school on the planned date of 26 November, the session was postponed as many students had departed early due to the impending school holidays.

Overall, the 2025 CFL program achieved strong reach and positive outcomes. A total of 641 students, including 326 girls, participated across six Grade 7 classes and two Grade 8 classes between August and October. Student feedback indicates a high level of impact, with 84.4 per cent of surveyed students reporting confidence in making their own financial decisions following the program. These results suggest that core financial literacy concepts were effectively communicated and well understood.

In addition, 26 teachers (21 women) participated in a dedicated CFL training workshop, strengthening school-based capacity to reinforce financial literacy concepts beyond the life of the program. In mid-November, the CUFA PNG team convened a CFL reflection meeting to review highlights, challenges, and lessons learned from this year’s activities. Reflections highlighted the value of practical classroom experience, adaptive facilitation approaches, and strong collaboration between teachers, volunteers, and the CUFA team.

Program delivery was fully supported by our six trained volunteers (three women), who assisted with classroom facilitation throughout the implementation period. In late October, we hosted a thank you celebration to recognise the commitment and hard work of the six volunteers. While many were new to facilitation, their enthusiasm and teamwork were consistently evident. Through CUFA’s mentoring and their own shared reflections, volunteers built confidence, adapted effectively to large classroom settings, and ensured students engaged meaningfully with financial literacy concepts.

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