The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will provide free online personal finance courses to some four million technical-vocational education and training (TVET) learners by early 2024. The BSP said Thursday, June 1, that its Financial Literacy Course (FLC) will be available to TVET learners and the general public through the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) while the program will be developed by both BSP and BDO Unibank Inc.’s BDO Foundation. Dubbed as “Lifelong Learning Skills” courses,  the FLC covers topis such as financial planning, saving and budgeting, debt and investment management, digital financial literacy, and consumer protection. The BSP has signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with TESDA and BDO Foundation last March for the development of the free online course. BSP Governor Felipe M. Medalla said TVET learners will later decide to pursue employment or establish a business here or abroad. “Through the FLC, we empower them to take charge of their own personal and financial growth,” he said. Knowledge in personal finance also empowers them to “unlock better outcomes and opportunities for themselves, for their families, and for our economy.” “Sustainable public-private partnerships are instrumental in developing more financial education programs that are free, effective, accessible, interactive, and scalable. This greatly expands the reach of our financial inclusion efforts,” said Medalla. The MOA was signed Medalla, BSP Deputy Governor Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, TESDA Director General Danilo P. Cruz, TESDA Deputy Director General Rosanna A. Urdaneta, BDO Foundation President Mario A. Deriquito and Trustees Lucy Co Dy and Lazaro Jerome C. Guevarra. Cruz said the current workplace “demands workers to demonstrate self-management and develop attitudes toward lifelong learning and career development. (FLC) enables them to make sound financial decisions toward the attainment of their life and career goals,” he said. Earlier in March, BDO Foundation has also signed a separate deal with BSP for the development of a free online course on financial education or FinEd to be launched next year. “This joint initiative forms part of our continuing contribution to the BSP’s financial inclusion advocacy,” said Deriquito. BDO’s FinEd free online courses will be uploaded to BSP’s e-learning platforms and accessible through mobile devices by 2024. This MOA covers a nine-module interactive online course on personal finance which will be called “FinEd e-Learning Course”. For more than a decade, the BSP has continued to develop financial literacy training programs with various government agencies such as the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, the Department of Agriculture, Deparment of Trade and Industry, and Social Welfare and Development. The BSP has also partnered with the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education to make financial literacy lessons mandatory for both students and teachers. Meanwhile, the FLC is aligned with the objectives and priority initiatives under the BSP’s National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (NSFI) 2022-2028, which aims to promote financial education and consumer protection by strengthening the financial and digital literacy of underserved sectors, said the BSP. Under the NSFI, the BSP will further collaborate with other government agencies, private sector and development partners to accelerate financial inclusion. The BSP launched the updated NSFI in January last year as a shared blueprint for a broad-based growth and financial resilience. The updated NSFI also embraced the Philippine Development Plan and the AmBisyon Natin 2040. Specifically, the new NSFI has clear-cut focus on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), start-ups, and agriculture financing. The MSME sector with 63 percent of total employment is a major source of livelihood for a large population of Filipinos. The updated NSFI’s primary objective is financial resilience since many Filipinos, especially the poor, are facing increased vulnerabilities from the health crisis and climate change.