OJK Moves Up a Gear on Financial Literacy

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Teachers are laypersons after all, including economics teachers. More than two years after the establishment of the Financial Services Authority (OJK), many of these teachers are still clueless about the superbody’s role in the economy, as reported by Antara News.

Pieter L. Maurits was not sure about the OJK’s role in society. The high school teacher from Ambon, Maluku province, was aware it existed, but could not quite place its position among other state agencies, such as Bank Indonesia (BI).

“I know what BI does, but the OJK is still a somewhat vague concept,” he said recently.

Teachers are the target audience of a training forum held on July 2 to July 3 by the OJK, Education and Culture Ministry and the Economics Teachers’ Association, which aims to boost the financial literacy of teachers.

The forum was attended by 70 economics teachers, who hailed from all 34 provinces across the archipelago. These teachers could pass on the knowledge to their students, so they can become more knowledgeable about the available facilities to access finance and better manage their money.

OJK commissioner for education and consumer protection Kusumaningtuti S. Soetiono said that the superbody expected the training to eventually help boost Indonesians’ financial literacy to the same level currently reported by peers Malaysia and Singapore.

“About 62 percent of our population lives in rural areas and inlands. That’s why we are coordinating with the Education and Culture Ministry to spread knowledge, but it will take more than five years to do that,” she said.

ANTARA