City schools sign up to teach students about stocks, savings

Last month, students of JB Petit School traded shares on Dalal Street. The transactions were fictional, with students trading in companies named after Hollywood stars as part of a financial literacy programme run by the Bombay Stock Exchange. Bhavya Dore reports.

Last month, students of JB Petit School traded shares on Dalal Street. The transactions were fictional, with students trading in companies named after Hollywood stars as part of a financial literacy programme run by the Bombay Stock Exchange.

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"The children were very excited; we wanted to teach them how stocks work, through a game," said Ambarish Dutta, director of the BSE Training Institute.

The institute began offering financial literacy workshops for schools four months ago, discussing with students as young as 10 how the market works, and taking them on a tour of the trading floor.

Theirs is not the only such training institute. Twenty-five Mumbai schools, including RN Podar School, Canossa Convent and St Andrew's School, are part of the Junior Achievement (JA) India programme, which has been conducting financial awareness sessions for school students since 2008.

Ten of them signed up at the start of this academic year.

"There is a mismatch between education and the outside world," said Ramesh Krishnamurthy, regional executive vice-president for JA. "Students study economics only in the higher classes, and that too is theory."

Added Revathi Srinivasan, principal of Sulochanadevi Singhania School in Thane, which started its own such course four months ago: "The time has come for children to learn about budgeting and investment."

While the response from most parents at these schools has been positive, a few remain sceptical.