Financial literacy: Money skills gleaned from a theater stage
Dancers recreate the dowry presentation scene from the play 'I Will Marry When I Want', written by Ngugi Wa Thiong'o and the late Ngugi wa Miiri, staged at the Kenya National Theatre from October 6 to 16, 2022.
Through interactive storytelling, vibrant visual arts, and engaging theatre, educators are transforming financial education into an exciting and relatable experience for children.
This approach not only captivates their imagination but also instils essential financial skills at an early age, laying the groundwork for a future generation that is both financially savvy and artistically enriched.
Professor Frederick Ngala, Chairman of Kenya Music Festival says that financial literacy can be effectively taught through performative arts, helping children become aware of their finances from an early age and enabling them to make better financial decisions as adults.
Engaging and entertaining
Performative arts which serve as a medium of entertainment often make this kind of literacy engaging and easily understood by children.
"There are two ways of building literacy. One is to learn it, while the second is to practice it. Learning is critical because you cannot practice that which you don’t know, but more important is practising," Prof Ngala says.
Kenya Music Festival assists with making it practical in interesting ways that are easily understood by the younger group. ‘‘We do not just teach for the sake of it.
At the end of the day, it sinks deeper because the students would have been taught as a theory and then realise it through performing arts. It is done in a very enjoyable manner because as you learn, you are also entertained."
Prof Ngala explains they employ dance, music, and elocution. "Elocution is a diverse area that involves poems, choral verses, and public speaking, among others.
"These works of artistic expression are normally done by children and composers, who compose artistry with content relevant to financial literacy," he adds.
Prof Ngala emphasises the importance of the creative economy. “They can use dance to create money. After performance, the music is recorded and then shared on music streams like YouTube.
"When you have these performances placed on those platforms, it is not just about knowing the theory of financial literacy. It is also about being involved using music and translating the same thing to money, so they are living it."
How do they balance financial literacy to the children as an Art and educational goal?
Curriculum development
Prof Frederick Ngala emphasises the role of the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development in shaping the curriculum for financial literacy.
“Once the students have learned this in the classroom, then that is financial literacy as a subject. We now see how works of artistic expression can be used to generally realise the goals of financial literacy.
“One of the critical goals is the ability to be entrepreneurial in nature, developing entrepreneurial skills, marketing skills, and salesmanship.
"There is the curriculum that is developed, and then there is the way of using works of artistic expression in general. We strive to make them live it rather than just learn it.”
What understanding it given the different age groups?
"The curriculum development is done by age. Sometimes it is age-based, and sometimes it’s based on other factors.
" Every level has different levels of teaching financial literacy, evolving from simple financial activities to practical ones, which move into university as business-related courses," Prof Ngala says.
The professor says majority of the members at the music festival are also involved in the development of the curriculum.
Challenges
Prof Ngala explains the approach to financial literacy integration. "I would not call them challenges because the financial literacy curriculum development is done by the government through KICD, and then music is also taught as a subject.
"Ours is to provide a margin point where now that you have the financial knowledge, how can you use your knowledge to translate it into creativity which can then earn your money."
Financial expert
Financial freedom is essential for society, and achieving it requires awareness and understanding of financial planning, according to Asman Mugambi, CEO of Jubilee Life Insurance.
"We engage in various forums in terms of training people on how to plan their finances, but what we have also realised is that it's even better if you can start training people when they are young," he says.
Reflecting on his own experience, Mr Mugambi notes, "When we were young, we were taught everything else except how to plan our finances.
" We have realised that if you engage when the children are young, then we can build a society that is more aware."
Art forms like poetry and songs have been chosen for financial literacy education because, "It is easier to explain, and for the children, they are better able to absorb that information if it is done simply," says Mr Mugambi.
The finance expert explains that competitions in arts and music foster collaboration between children, teachers, and parents.
"Through that process, even the adults get that information because they are supposed to help them in that creativity," he adds
In a tough economic environment like the one we have, financial management is crucial. "If you don’t know how to manage whatever little you get, then you cannot support yourself," Mr Mugambi warns.
He goes on to emphasise the importance of saving for education, "Education has also become an expensive venture. When you are a new parent, you need to start saving for the child’s education, which makes financial literacy an important skill for one to have."
As financial services play a key role in promoting financial literacy, Mr Mugambi adds, "We engage with the customers daily, but even other players within education, for example, as people are coming up with the curriculum, they need to think about how they will incorporate it in the engagement."
