Participants performance in the first Financial Education Olympiad in Rio Grande do Sul

Abstract

Financial education allows conscious and secure more choices about finances, opportunities and future. This study aimed to analyze participants performance in Olympiad of Financial Education in Rio Grande do Sul (I OBEF RS), in relation to Financial Education contents. An analysis of the three phases tests applied in 2019 to five levels of students was carried out. As for the methodological procedures, it is a quantitative, descriptive and documentary research. There were 2,948 pupils participating, from public and private schools, from the 2nd year of elementary school up to the 3rd year of high school. It was noticed their performance’s improvement throughout the Olympiad. In the first stage, public schools had the highest percentage of participants classified (52.1%), and private schools had 47.9%, and level one had the highest percentage of those approved. In the second stage, although the private schools showed the highest percentage of students classified (53.3%), the differences found were not significant. Levels 3 to 5 had the highest approval percentage. In the third stage, which gave rise to the national medalists, public schools predominated, with 81.8% of the students. Among the nine public schools’ medalists, seven were from military school, and they performed better in comparison with the total medal-winners, from levels 3 to 5. Regarding gender, there were no statistically significant differences. This study promoted the inclusion of this theme in the classrooms, highlighting the importance of pupils’ participation in the I Brazilian Olympiad of Financial Education (I OBEF) and strengthening the skills mapping of financial education matters.