The Philippine Life Insurance Association Inc. (PLIA) has partnered with the Foundation for the Advancement of Life and Insurance Around the world (FALIA) to promote financial literacy among students in the country.
According to Insurance Commissioner Emmanuel F. Dooc at the Falia-PLIA financial-literacy launching ceremonies in Makati City on Wednesday, the low insurance-penetration rate of 1.8 percent may be traced to the lack of insurance awareness among Filipinos.
“The public must know the merit and value of insurance as a vehicle for protection, savings and investment,” Dooc said.
Dooc added that compared to neighbors in the Asean with an insurance-penetration rate of 3.4 percent, the country’s penetration rate compares poorly, with Singapore also having a high penetration rate of 6 percent. The sorry state of penetration may be addressed by improving or increasing efforts to promote financial and insurance literacy and awareness in the country.
He explained that, to date, only two insurance companies in the country promote financial and insurance literacy in the region, which includes Pru Life UK and Fortune Life Insurance Co. Inc.
The initiative of incorporating a financial-education curriculum for secondary schools is one project that PLIA, together with Falia, will be implementing come the 2017 school year with the implementation of the K to 12 program.
The project aims to create a portal containing materials tackling the management of funds, saving money, investments and so on. The modules will also be executed in print format that will be available to schools and parents once the Department of Education (DepEd) has given approval.
“Our objective on developing a financial-literacy module that will be part of the high-school curriculum has been in the works for many years. And now it is finally off the ground and moving, thanks to the expertise and assistance being provided by our project manager, Knowledge Community,” said Gregorio D. Mercado, president and CEO of Philippine Prudential Life Insurance Co. Inc.
In line with this, the partnership will also initiate an essay writing contest for schools in the National Capital Region, together with a lecture series to further widen the coverage of the promotion of financial literacy. This is noted to be the first of its kind, which will reach a large audience and that will begin with a young demographic.
“If the public is aware and well informed, there will be no buyer remorse, and persistency rate will be very high among policyholders,” Dooc added.