In a ground breaking achievement for capital market education the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Education Ministry have approved a programme proposed by the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) to conduct compulsory workshops for Undergraduate Students and Commerce Teachers across the country.

The introductory sessions that were held recently saw avid interest generated from the parties involved.

Accordingly, workshops will be conducted throughout the year at State Universities, National Schools and Provincial Schools across the island. In turn the workshops will have a reach of over 15,000 undergraduate students and a reach of nearly 13,000 teachers. These workshops intend on making capital market investment a prevalent topic of discussion among an important group of future investors and influencers.

For University Undergraduate Students the two day programme, conducted by the investor education arm of the CSE, will provide an introduction to personal financial planning and the role of the CSE in facilitating transactions within the capital market.

The aim of the programme is to motivate students to channel their savings or excess funds towards the capital market and give them an understanding of the alternative investment avenues available, while providing a theoretical and practical overview of the fundamentals of the market.

The first day of the workshop will cover the areas of savings and investment, investment opportunities, capital market processes and the benefits of investing in shares. The second day of the workshop will explain the role of the Stock Exchange as a facilitator, the role of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the role of listed companies, Stock brokers, investors and the capital market’s contribution to the economy.

In addition to this information the Teacher Training workshops will also focus on providing participants with an understanding of the basics necessary to analyze financial statements and the intricacies of investing in debt securities.

“The objective of the Teacher Training workshop programme is to educate an important and influential group of educators who will be catalysts in nurturing future investors to develop the ability to make informed investment decisions”, Mr. Rajeeva Bandaranaike, CEO of the CSE said.