• This year’s virtual Program organized in collaboration with INJAZ Qatar will enroll 500 students in its 2020/2021 academic year
• Dedicated to improving the youth’s financial literacy in Qatar, the Program graduated 800 students in the past two academic years 

8 October 2020, Doha, Qatar: Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has announced the start of the third academic year of its Financial Literacy Program ‘How Money works?’, developed in collaboration with INJAZ Qatar, an entity in Qatar established to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in the global economy.

This academic year, the ‘How Money Works?’ sessions will be held virtually with the Program working to educate a new cohort secondary school students and first year university students, utlising digital channels and new teaching methods, while offering more flexibility and easier access to students.

The ‘How Money works?’ Program, tutored by QIB experts as well as INJAZ Qatar volunteers, comprise a series of five-hour interactive and engaging learning sessions, tailored to introduce secondary and first year university students to best practices related to earning money, budgeting, expenditure planning, saving and investment, in addition to banking security standards and personal finance protection. 

Students from various schools in Qatar will also benefit from a series of independent career planning workshops, covering a variety of personal development practices and soft skills such as critical thinking, problem solving as well as learning effective methods of communication.

Commenting on the successful start of the Program in its third academic year, Mrs. Mashaal Abdulaziz Al Derham, Assistant General Manager, Head of Corporate Communications & Quality Assurance at QIB said: “ ‘How Money Works?’ has been a major success since its launch in 2018. This year, our innovative Program continues to bring great knowledge to Qatar’s youth on best practices related to managing their money. QIB aims to contribute to preparing future leaders by providing them with the tools that will equip them in the future to navigating our global economy and is committed to empowering the youth providing  them with the required knowledge, to help build their confidence and readiness to make informed decisions in their everyday life.” 

In the first month of the ongoing academic year, a total number of 315 students benefited from the sessions of the program. The first session was delivered by QIB volunteer Mr. Louai Ayad, with the attendance of 155 students from Qatar University, Lusail University, College of the North Atlantic, and 33 schools across Qatar, while the program’s second session was delivered by QIB’s Hani Ali on 1st October, with the participation of 160 students from Qatar University. Both sessions concluded with remarkable success, offering students the chance to gain first-hand knowledge from QIB’s experts with the support of INJAZ Qatar.

Mr. Amar Benaissa, Director of Programs at INJAZ Qatar said: “I am delighted to witness such a successful start of this highly valuable Program attended by a high number of students despite the current challenges we are facing today. I would like to sincerely thank QIB experts for volunteering with INJAZ Qatar once again, their leadership on the first two sessions of this year were of utmost value. Our students have learnt a lot from the ‘How money works?’, and this will certainly impact their personal financial journey positively. The level of interaction and motivation of the attendees was truly impressive throughout the two sessions.”

“I would also like to thank the management of Qatar Islamic Bank for making this possible. Thanks to this partnership, we will continue to equip hundreds and thousands of young people in Qatar with the necessary skills to take informed financial decisions and succeed in a competitive global economy,” Mr. Amar concluded.
 
The second academic year 2019/2020 for ‘How Money works?’ Program concluded with great success as well, having graduated 434 students from Qatar University, Rawdat Rashed Secondary School and Hamad Medical Corporation’s Camp. Since its launch in 2018, the Program has so far graduated 800 students.

Speaking about his experience, Qatar University student Mustapha Reda who was part of the Program’s second cohort said: “The Program was wonderful, and extremely useful, yet entertaining at the same time. Thanks to the Program I got useful information, and I look forward to applying the tools and information learnt to my future.” 

Qatar University student Abdulrahman Ahmed also said: “I would like to thank all those who thought of and organized this great initiative, and I will certainly start implementing what I have learnt in my daily life, and certainly start thinking of investment opportunities in the future.”

Launched in 2018 by Qatar Islamic Bank in collaboration with INJAZ Qatar, ‘How Money works?’ is a three-year innovative financial literacy Program. It reflects QIB's core social responsibility values, and its commitment to educating the young generation across Qatar on elementary notions and practices related to finance and business.