Worthy investment: Team Filpen from SK Luagan sold tickets to their independent feature film to buy boats for their flood-prone school.
TEAM Filpen from SK Luagan who mitigated the closures at their flood-prone school in Sarawak through the sale of tickets to their independent feature film were among the budding social entrepreneurs whose talents shone at the recently concluded Good SENS programme by the Financial Industry Collective Outreach (Finco).The school in Lawas was among four “Best Overall Social Enterprises” that were crowned winners of the Finco flagship financial literacy programme on Dec 8.
In its second run, Good SENS, which used social enterprise as a vehicle to teach upper primary pupils the concepts of financial literacy in a real-world setting, featured 73 teams from 29 schools across Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Johor and Sarawak.
Pupils aged 10 to 12 participated in the year-long programme, during which financial industry mentors, teachers and facilitators from Social Enterprise Academy Malaysia guided the teams through curated modules mapped to the Education Ministry’s financial literacy curriculum.
From selling snacks and stationery to playing virtual jukebox requests to earn a profit, the pupils demonstrated keen awareness of social issues through activities such as providing financial aid for communities in need, serving lunch to their peers and creating compost bins for school.
The programme ended with the Finco Good SENS: National Dragons Den 2022, where 15 finalist teams made pitches for further investment to a panel of industry professionals in Kuala Lumpur.
The panel of “dragons” included representatives from Public Investment Bank, AmInvestment Bank, the Financial Education Network, the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (AKPK), Teman Malaysia, and International Medical University.
Filpen team lead Muhamad Baharuddin Aiman Bungsu, 12, said the goal was to capitalise on their collective talent for cinematography to create awareness of social issues, and find a way to limit learning loss from school closures due to flooding.
Purchasing boats would enable classmates to access the school’s floating library, ensuring sustained reading when possible.
Profits from their premiere of Bullies have already enabled them to purchase a boat. Their investment pitch was focused on expanding their support to other schools in need.
The other three winners were Team Boolean Autocrats from SK Agama (MIS) Miri, Sarawak; Team Ciku Guys from SK Koris, Johor; and Team Power from SJK(T) Ladang Kinrara, Selangor.
Each team received an investment funding of RM1,500, an additional RM1,500 for their school, and an opportunity to learn a new skill with the award-winning social enterprise Batik Boutique.As a partner of the Financial Education Network, Good SENS strategically aligned with the collective efforts under the National Strategy for Financial Literacy, as well as the Financial Sector Blueprint, to equip young people with improved financial capabilities, said Finco chairman Tan Sri Azman Hashim.
“For our primary school teams, this translated into running an actual business to understand the concepts required to better handle money, including budgeting, trading and channelling profits to support causes they care about,” he said in a press release.
Good SENS, facilitated by Social Enterprise Academy (SEA) Malaysia, is also the nation’s first Social Enterprise Network for Schools. As a result, participants remain connected to a network of friends from around the world, sharing best practices in money management, communication and presentation skills, with their peers in SEA Scotland, Britain, Australia, Malawi and Egypt.
Finco chief executive officer Clare Walker said judges were impressed by the creativity, resilience and achievements of the pitching teams.
“Each team was able to demonstrate how they managed their finances and confidently answered some very tough questions related to problem-solving.
“It was inspiring to see them present their learning and achievements, and to do so in English was another great accomplishment for many.”
The Good SENS award ceremony also recognised the outstanding achievements and efforts of students, English language teachers and school counsellors, as well as financial industry volunteers who participated in Finco programmes, which had benefited more than 109,000 primary and secondary students this year.
In its fifth year of operations, Finco aims to harness the collective resources of the financial industry to provide underprivileged children and youth with the guidance and educational tools they need to achieve their life goals. Programmes are centred on the financial industry’s shared goals of improved English proficiency, life aspiration, financial literacy and disaster relief.
