Barclays Global Retail & Commercial Bank (GRCB) across its Emerging Market entities has partnered with US based Junior Achievement (JA), a leading Non-Government Organization (NGO) focused on educating students about work readiness, financial literacy and entrepreneurship, through experiential, hands-on programs. This partnership will extend over a period of three years. During the first year, in India, two programmes – B-INSPIRED for school students in Mumbai, New Delhi, Kanchipuram and Junagadh and B-SMART for secondary school students in Mumbai and New Delhi – will be launched. These programmes, conducted from July 2009 to February 2010, will benefit over 500 children across the country.
Through the B – INSPIRED programme, standard seven, eight and nine students are given a “real life” business challenge. These students are then allowed to brainstorm and innovatively create a feasible solution to the problem. This programme is focused on making students think as a team and to provide a more interactive learning experience
B – SMART is the single most utilized programme in the JA Worldwide portfolio. In this programme, secondary school students learn important entrepreneurial skills through creating their own student company and operating through an entire business cycle. They make and market real products, use “real” share capital and make “real” profits (or losses) with the support and mentoring of a wide range of professionals, in this case Barclays volunteers. Additionally, the donation provided by Barclays will assist JA Worldwide for the expansion or introduction of these programmes in countries of strategic business importance to Barclays.
Speaking on this initiative, Ram Gopal, Interim Managing Director, Barclays Global Retail & Commercial Bank India said, “At Barclays we are committed to the communities in which we operate. Partnering with Junior Achievement has given us the opportunity to empower the youth in these communities through innovative financial learning programmes with the aim to create an enriching future for them. An overwhelming number of colleagues came forth to be mentors for these students. We look forward to working with JA, and enriching the lives of these students with real life business solutions. We believe this will enhance their learning from a young age and help them mature into business professionals. We wish these students all the best in their endeavour.”
Barclays colleagues, who have volunteered to be part of this project, will first have to go through a ‘Train the Trainer’ programme that is designed to share with them how they can add significant value to the students.
Venkat Matoory, Founder CEO, Junior Achievement India said, “While Indian economy has performed well since the 1991 round of reforms, the future holds even more potential. For such potential to be unleashed, industry needs to be ably supported by a well prepared workforce that can hit the ground running. Industry needs to play a proactive role in making our future professionals develop a holistic understanding of the economy, industry and professions. While organizations such as JA can develop the models, it is partnerships such as these that make the models work. JA is excited about working with Barclays India team to help several more students realize their true potential.”
There are an additional three programmes which will be implemented in India during the second and third years of partnership with JA Worldwide. These programmes are:
B –EXPERIENCED – an enriching opportunity to actually work through ‘Barclays Job Shadow’ experience
B – CONNECTED – through state-of-the-art technology
B – YOUR DREAM – for all those graduates who have it in them to realize their dreams
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The youth centric programs created by JA are practical in approach and inculcate the nuances of financial literacy across participants. In India, programmes will be implemented in Mumbai, Delhi, Kanchipuram and Junagadh. While in the Emerging Markets the programmes will be implemented in Botswana, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Russia, Tanzania, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Barclays GRCB business has built a strong franchise in India over the past two and a half years with over 900,000 clients and customers. Barclays continues to be committed to India through its six Barclays entities including Global Retail and Commercial Banking, Barclays Capital, Barclays Wealth and specialist technology and BPO centres of excellence. India is one of the leading markets for Barclays Plc.
About Barclays Global Retail and Commercial Bank (GRCB), India:
Barclays GRCB India, part of the global Barclays Group, launched its commercial banking services in the country in November 2006 and followed it up with the launch of its retail services in May 2007. Within a short period of time, Barclays GRCB India launched innovative products such as the smart budget card, Hello Money, Platinum debit card, 7 year personal loan and the Barclays Premier League card.
Barclays GRCB India is headquartered in Mumbai and has established its presence in four other cities– New Delhi, Nelamangala (near Bengaluru), Kanchipuram (near Chennai) and Junagarh (Gujarat).
To find out more about Barclays GRCB India and its products and services, please visit our website: www.barclays.in
About Barclays Global Retail and Commercial Banking:
Barclays Global Retail and Commercial Banking (GRCB) encompasses all of Barclays retail and commercial banking businesses around the world. Operating in more than 50 countries and employing more than 121,000 people, Barclays GRCB comprises UK Retail Banking, Barclays Commercial Bank, Barclaycard, GRCB Western Europe, GRCB Emerging Markets and GRCB Absa (Barclays Bank PLC owns 58.8% of Absa Group Limited). Barclays GRCB serves 50 million customers and clients around the globe through a network of more than 4,900 distribution points and more than 14,000 ATMs.
To find out more about the individual Barclays GRCB businesses, please visit our website: www.barclays.com
About Barclays
Barclays is a major global financial services provider engaged in retail and commercial banking, credit cards, investment banking, wealth management and investment management services, with an extensive international presence in Europe, the USA, Africa and Asia.
With over 300 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays operates in over 50 countries and employs over 155,000 people.
Barclays moves, lends, invests and protects money for over 50 million customers and clients worldwide.
For further information about Barclays, please visit our website www.barclays.com