Maltese teenage students’ financial skills and knowledge excelled once again as two students placed fifth in 2022 edition of the European Money Quiz (EMQ).

The EMQ Finals, which are organised by the European Banking Federation (EBF) were held on 10th May.

15-year-old Elisa Jane Bonnici and 14-year-old Pamela Sammut, who attend Our Lady Immaculate's secondary school in Ħamrun and St Thomas More College in Żejtun respectively, represented Malta in the competition, as they placed fifth out of 29 participating European nations.

The EMQ is a European financial literacy competition for 13 to 15-year-old students, having up to a million plays annually in up to 28 European countries through the Kahoot! platform.

The competition was first launched alongside the European Money Week (EMW) campaign in 2017, being part of the EBF’s financial literacy initiatives aimed to cast a spotlight on the importance of financial education for young people to have a better and more secure life.

From left: Students Elisa Jane Bonnici and Pamela Sammut, Education Officer for Accounting and Business Studies within the DLAP Joanne Zammit, MBA Office Administrator Fiona Borg Catania and MBA Secretary General Karol Gabarretta

The participants had to answer 20 questions based on financial skills that are aligned with the OECD/INFE guidelines and core competencies on financial literacy for the youth, with questions being based on topics such as sustainability, online scams, budgeting, and also cryptocurrencies.

As a result of them placing among the top five countries, Elisa Jane and Pamela will be invited by the EBF for a two-day trip to Brussels on 20th and 21st June 2022, including visits to the European Parliament, the visitors’ centre of the European Parliament known as the Parliamentarium, House of European History, the museum focusing on the history of Europe, and other activities.

In preparation for the EBF’s EMQ, a national competition was held by the Malta Bankers’ Association (MBA) in March in collaboration with staff from the Directorate for Learning and Assessment Programmes (DLAP) Department for Curriculum, Research, Innovation and Lifelong Learning, including Education Officer for Account and Business Studies Joanne Zammit.

The online national competition, which Elisa Jane and Pamela won, was held amongst secondary school students from state, church and private schools.

Following their performance in the EMQ, MBA Secretary General Karol Gabarretta congratulated the two Maltese students and awarded them prizes.

Malta’s participation in the EMQ forms part of the annual European Money Week events.

This year was the eighth consecutive year that the MBA organised a series of events and activities in Malta together with EMW, which was held last March.

The EMW focused on financial education while also raised awareness amongst students about money and personal finances.

Formed in 1962, the MBA aims to represent the interests of banks which are licensed to operate in Malta, describing its mission promoting “an enabling environment for the banking sector through advocacy, capacity building, education and networking.”