Financial Sponsorship

Partnership Category:

External partnerships on an Institutional level – e.g. community partnerships (such as with local government, with business associations, with NGOs)

Name of Partner:

Banqer

Name of Partnership:

Sponsorship

Primary purpose:

The primary purpose of this partnership between the University of Canterbury Business School and Banqer is to provide community engagement. The Business School provides financial sponsorship to lower socio-economic areas schools to implement the Banqer platform in their school. The Banqer platform means students can access quality financial literacy education independently. They are also able to take this financial literacy educational platform home to their communities.

Secondary purpose:

The relationship's secondary objective is to showcase the career and educational paths provided by the UC Business School. By enhancing financial literacy in underprivileged areas, the ability to comprehend and feel successful in academic pursuits from a university, aids in creating a route for potential students to pursue university education.

Contact for this partnership:

Tim Winfield - UC Business School

Simon Brown – Co CEO Banqer

Practical involvement:

In this partnership, the Outreach Coordinator, collaborate with the school management and teachers to incorporate financial literacy into their curriculum and school daily timetable. We brief the teachers on how to load students onto the platform and virtual classrooms of Banqer. Following this, the school has decided to implement Banqer in all year 9 and year 10 classes. To ensure the relationship and program's success, the Outreach Coordinator regularly visits the school to monitor student progress, and Banqer's Teacher Liaison Coordinator also pays periodic classroom visits.

Benefits of this partnership to the institution as a PRME Champion:

This relationship offers several advantages. Firstly, it enables us to establish a visible presence in schools and showcase our commitment to promoting financial literacy within a low socio economic community. The Outreach Coordinator put up posters in the schools promoting the Business School’s major subjects with links to who to contact if they want to apply for scholarships or course planning information. The Outreach Coordinator also presents in the classrooms talking about the various degree combinations that the Bachelor of Commerce students can undertake.

Additionally, by supporting social enterprises that prioritize sustainable development goals, we demonstrate our dedication to creating a positive impact on society. Moreover, the University of Canterbury Business School's teaching staff can benefit from accessing Banqer's data to gain insights into the latest advancements in gamification of school subjects.

Benefits of this partnership to the partner institution(s):

The school located in a lower socio-economic area is being introduced to tertiary education opportunities and given publicity, which reinforces their belief in education's ability to enhance the quality of life in their community. Furthermore, Banqer, a company, is leveraging this connection to enhance their business and offer charitable prospects to schools that may have otherwise been unable to access them.

Lessons learned from the partnership:

We did think that more schools would take up this opportunity but as we’ve found Secondary Schools are very busy places with many constraints on their teaching time and classroom curriculum. So perhaps letting schools dictate more when and where this financial education can be implemented would help with the up take. Secondary Teachers are also very busy and time poor so for future school relationships I would allow for teacher release time so that it doesn’t become a burden on their already packed workload.

Duration of partnership:

The partnership was established in 2022.

We’re able to cover costs of the Banqer licences for this secondary school for a three-year period to ensure its stability in the school and longevity through the curriculum year levels.