The "The future Is Saving" website uses games to help students in their first year of secondary education learn new concepts, economic processes and financial techniques. 

Students learn on their own, without needing help from teachers or parents to do the activities. 

Santiago de Chile, 24 April 2020.
"The Future Is Saving" is a new initiative by the Centro de Políticas Públicas UC and Banco Santander as part of the financial education in schools programme they launched in 2016. This online platform aims to help students in the first year of secondary education learn new concepts, economic processes and financial techniques from the safely of their homes during the covid-19 pandemic. 

A number of educational institutions in various parts of the Metropolitan Region and Valparaíso were invited to take part in the initiative when it was launched. However, the coronavirus health crisis has forced the authorities to stop all classroom-based learning. It has therefore been decided to offer access to the platform to all schools in Chile that wish to take part in the initiative, up to a maximum of 10,000 students. Law 21092, enacted in May 2018, amends the General Law on Education by introducing content on financial education for students in the first year of secondary education. 

This initiative includes 17 hours of learning. It is mainly based on games as an educational tool to motivate students, through questions and answers, incentives and rewards. It also features 12 videos, a glossary and a simulator for preparing budgets. There is an initial and a final assessment to provide feedback during the teaching and learning process and determine how well the students are acquiring and consolidating their knowledge. 

Ignacio Elzo, deputy manager of training at the Centro de Políticas Públicas UC, says this platform "will make a great contribution to students in their first year of secondary education, helping them embrace important concepts such as savings and indebtedness. It will enable them to become responsible and well-informed economic actors, especially in a crisis like this with its huge financial impact on all households. He adds that "the interruption of classroom-based learning does not mean that students will stop learning, quite the opposite. We firmly believe that virtual learning can be very effective and that this high-quality educational platform will make a real difference".

Roberto Sapag, manager of corporate communications and sustainability at Banco Santander, says that "Santander has been committed to education for many years, because we are convinced it is a key tool for helping people prosper. The current health crisis forces all of us to try to adapt to the new circumstances. We believe that this educational tool will be very useful for students and their families, enabling them to grasp basic concepts in these areas that they can apply in their day-to-day lives, helping them make informed decisions that can improve their financial health". 

The financial education in schools project is being led by the Centro de Políticas Públicas UC in collaboration with Banco Santander. It is designed to address the low levels of financial literacy in Chile. It aims to train educational communities in these topics so that they can develop knowledge and skills that will enable them to make informed decisions, while generating evidence of the importance of this type of education in schools. A range of actions have been developed to achieve this goal and achieve a specific impact in the school community. 

The methodology 
This is a self-study initiative that seeks to make students responsible for their own learning and for completing the website activities. History, geography and social science teachers need to motivate their students to use the platform, but do not need to guide them. 

The content, activities and methodology were developed by researchers of the Centre of Excellence in Economic Psychology and Consumption at La Frontera University, represented by Marianela Denegri, an academic expert in this area, and meet the requirements of the Ministry of Education. The content has been approved by history, geography and social science teachers at educational institutions in the Metropolitan Region and Valparaíso, with whom we are working on this initiative. 

Educational institutions that wish to take part in the initiative should email the coordinator, Gabriela Lara (malaras@uc.cl), who will contact them with more details of this initiative, which will be available from Monday, 25 May to Friday, 24 July 2020.