Participants had to present a case study and reply to several questions made by the judging panel. Winners have been IES Alhamilla, from Almería, in first position; IES Chaves Nogales, from Seville, second, and Colegio San Estanislao de Kostka, from Málaga, and IES Severo Ochoa from Granada, which share the third position.
This competition supplements the IX Conferences on Financial Education for Young People, organized by the Edufinet Project from October 2017 to March 2018, and which have reached a participation of over 18,300 students from nearly 270 education centres, mainly from Andalusia, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura, Ceuta and Melilla.
A total of 206 teams, composed by 770 students, from 75 high schools –one of them from Romania- have participated in the VIII Financial Olympics of the Edufinet Project, promoted by Unicaja Banco and Fundación Unicaja, with the goal of promoting financial education. The winners of this contest, whose final phase took place today, have been the following high schools: IES Alhamilla, from Almería, Chaves Nogales, from Sevilla, San Estanislao de Kostka, from Málaga and Severo Ochoa from Granada.
In an event celebrated today at the Unicaja Centre for Financial Education, in Málaga, the Edufinet Project, which collaborates with 14 universities and over ten institutions and business organizations, has awarded the Prizes of its VIII Financial Olympics.
After presenting the conclusions of each finalist project and replying to the questions made by the judging panel, the winners of the VIII Financial Olympics have been IES Alhamilla, from Almería, in first position, IES Chaves Nogales, from Sevilla, second, and Colegio San Estanislao de Kotska from Málaga and IES Severo Ochoa from Granada, which share the third position.
With regard to prizes, the students classified in the first position have received an iPhone SE and the teacher who has mentored the project, an iPad. In the case of the second position, the students have received and iPad and the teacher, a laptop. The third teams have been awarded with an iPod Touch and a 2-in-1 laptop respectively. The schools have received a 32" TV.
Prize-giving ceremony
Today’s ceremony has featured a speech by the General Manager of Fundación Unicaja, Sergio Corral, and by the Head of Institutional Relations and Relations with Stakeholders of Unicaja Banco, Fernando Ríos. Representatives of the institutions and business organizations which collaborate with the Edufinet Project have also attended the event.
Also, during the ceremony a scholarship for the language immersion program School and Family Experience in the USA 'Grants USA Unicaja 2018' has been drawn before a notary public, among the members or the four finalists.
Of all the presented projects, a technical committee, composed by members of Unicaja’s working team, universities, institutions and the newspapers SUR, La Opinión de Málaga and Málaga Hoy, chose the top four projects, based on the following criteria: argumentation, pedagogical capacity and preparation effort.
Judging panel
The judging panel which has determined the winners has been composed by the General Manager of Fundación Unicaja, Sergio Corral; the Head of Marketing of Unicaja Banco, José Enrique Canalejo; the Head of Financial Education Area of Grupo Unicaja, José Antonio Díaz Campos; the Head of the Branch of the Bank of Spain in Málaga, Adolfo Gil; the Provincial Coordinator for Training of the Education Department of the Andalusian Regional Governement in Malaga, María Teresa Rodríguez de Sepúlveda Maíllo, and the Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business Science of the University of Málaga, Eugenio José Luque.
The following have also been members of the judging panel: Juan Manuel Maqueira, from the University of Jaén; José Ignacio Sánchez, from the University of Salamanca; Ana Isabel Rodríguez, from the University of Granada, through UGR Emprendedora; Francisca García, from the Associated Center of the UNED in Málaga; Francisco Aguado, from the University of Huelva; José Carlos Muñoz, Head of Internet of the newspaper SUR, and Raúl Rico, Manager of La Opinión de Málaga. Previously, the technical committee also included the Manager of Málaga Hoy, Fernando Ortega.
In general lines, the judging panel has highlighted the outcome of these VIII Financial Olympics, especially the high participation recorded and the quality of the submitted projects, so it has extended its congratulations to all the participants.
The VIII Financial Olympics supplements the IX Conferences on Financial Education for Young People, organized by the Edufinet Project from October 2017 to March 2018, and which have reached a participation of over 18,300 students from nearly 270 education centres, mainly from Andalusia, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura, Ceuta and Melilla. This edition also had the participation of students from Austria, Hungary, Italy, Czech Republic and Romania, who attended a conference last January, given in English for the first time.
The goal is, in summary to enhance dissemination and to raise the student’s awareness on the importance of acquiring knowledge related to the world of finance, with focus on the different products and services that they already use or will use in the coming years.
Ten years of work of the Edufinet Project
The Edufinet Project was launched at the end of 2007, even if its development began in 2005, within Unicaja and with the collaboration of the International University of Andalucía (UNIA) and University of Málaga (UMA). Unicaja became one of the pioneering financial institutions in Spain to launch such an initiative, a job which has been recognized with several awards.
Since Edufinet was launched, more than 127,600 people have participated in the different conferences, workshops and lectures given, of which more than 89,000 have participated through the Conferences on Financial Education for Young People. The website www.edufinet.com, which offers systematic and practical information, has registered more than seven million visits, with access from almost 180 countries.
Additionally, two other specific portals were created: the first one addressed to business owners and entrepreneurs (Edufiemp), and the second one, for young people (Edufinext). It also fosters several publications, such as the ‘Financial Guide’ or the ‘Financial Guide for business owners and entrepreneurs’.
