Every Sunday, 15-year-old Daniel Santos works from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. in a mechanic’s shop. He organizes tools, learns to repair cars and motorcycles, and earns Q75, approximately $10, to help support his mother and two younger siblings.
Daniel is still in middle school, but the financial decisions many adults encounter are already part of his life. How should he use the money he earns? How can he save while helping his family today? And how can he turn his goal of owning a mechanic’s shop into a plan?
Through a new partnership with Fundación Bi, School the World is helping scholarship students like Daniel begin answering those questions. The partnership brings practical financial education to students in grades 7–9, complementing the financial assistance, coaching, and other support they receive through the Scholarship Program.
In May, scholarship students in Quiché, Guatemala, participated in several days of intensive financial literacy training led by Fundación Bi. The program will expand to School the World scholarship students in Honduras in October.
Students learned about saving, budgeting, accounting, and making thoughtful decisions about how money is used. For some, the program was also their first introduction to formal banking. They learned how an ATM works and, after completing the training, received a debit card of their own.
Students also earned a certification in Financial Education endorsed by Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, one of the country’s most highly regarded universities. The certificate gives students a tangible credential recognizing the skills they developed.
The program is a natural extension of School the World’s Scholarship Program. Scholarships help students overcome the immediate costs of continuing from primary into middle school. Financial education helps prepare them to make decisions about work, education, and money as they move toward adulthood.
For students like Daniel, those lessons are already relevant.
Daniel’s father died while working in a water well when Daniel was about eight years old. His mother, Juana, supports three children by cleaning houses, but her earnings are not enough to cover all of the family’s expenses.
By the time Daniel reached sixth grade, he assumed he would stop studying and begin working full time.
“With what money?” he remembers thinking when he considered whether he could continue school.
Then the director of his primary school told Juana about School the World’s Scholarship Program. Daniel received a scholarship covering the supplies, uniform, shoes, and other expenses he needed to attend middle school.
“I want that scholarship,” he told his mother. “It is my opportunity to continue studying.”
Daniel now balances school with work, responsibilities at home, and helping his younger siblings with their studies. His family does not have electricity, so they make the most of daylight and use candles when they need to study at night.
Despite those demands, Daniel has a clear picture of what he wants to accomplish. He hopes to attend university, become a mechanic, and eventually own his own workshop. He also wants to build his mother a home with more than one room and electricity.
The financial literacy program helped him connect those long-term ambitions with the decisions he makes now.
“I learned about accounting and how important it is to save and know how to manage money,” Daniel says. “If I want to build my mother a big house, I have to study, save, and work. That is one of my dreams.”
For Daniel, saving is not simply a concept introduced in a workshop. It is part of how he connects the Q75 he earns today with the workshop, university education, and home he hopes to build in the future.
His story also illustrates why financial literacy is an important complement to a scholarship.
School the World’s Scholarship Program helps students remain in school during the critical transition after sixth grade. Through workshops and partner programs, students also build practical skills that can help them navigate the choices ahead.
The new partnership with Fundación Bi strengthens that support. Students in Honduras will participate in the financial literacy training in October, extending the opportunity to another group of scholarship recipients.
A scholarship can make it possible for a student to continue studying. By learning how to budget, save, and use financial services, students can also begin making more informed plans for where that education might take them.
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