Methodology

The program developed five training modules over a three-year period spanning from 2003 to 2005. Seven partners around the globe—Pro Mujer (Bolivia), Teba Bank (South Africa), Al Amana (Morroco), Equity Building Society (Kenya), SEWA Bank (India), CARD Bank (the Philippines), and the Micro-Finance Center (Poland)—actively participated in the project, starting with market research in their countries to identify the priority topics, learning objectives and training methods, and culminating with curriculum design and testing. Their commitment to this process has ensured that the financial education curriculum responds to the real needs of poor clients.

The development of the Financial Education curriculum followed a well-defined process. During the first phase market research was gathered mainly from secondary data and focus group discussions to identify current financial knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors of the targeted market segment of the module. The focus was on both the content of the education and how it could be best delivered to their clients. In the second phase, the market research findings were translated into learning objectives and turned into learning sessions. During the third phase these learning sessions, which make up a module, were pilot-tested with trainers. The fourth phase involved refinement of each module based on feedback gathered during the pilot test. Then, in order to separate the general from the culturally specific, a cross test was implemented where each partner pilot tested a module developed by someone else. This resulted in a generic module consisting of a Trainer’s Guide and a Training-of-Trainers Manual (TOT) to be used in any local context. The final phase of dissemination entailed conducting a training-of-trainers workshop followed by roll out of the training.