About 700 schoolchildren to participate in FirstBank Junior Internship Programme

About 700 schoolchildren will take part in a financial literacy programme organised by FirstBank, Ghana.

The children will learn the essence of savings,  the history of the bank and its operations and also be guided on their future career development and choices. 

The programme, dubbed, FirstBank Junior Internship Programme, will start on Monday, July 15 and end on Friday, September 13 this year and it is for children between the ages of 11 and 14 years.

It  will take place at the various branches of the bank across the country.  

The Head, Retail Banking, Mr Allen Quaye, in an interview, said beneficiaries would know what banking was all about and have practical work experience on the job, learn confidence-building techniques, report writing skills, among others, at the end of the programme.

He pointed out that the duration of the internship was five working days, after which the interns would write a report on their experiences.

At the banking hall, he said the interns would meet and welcome customers and direct them to the appropriate areas and officers for their transactions, as well as assist customers in filling out banking forms. 

Mr Quaye said they would undertake basic clerical work such as filing and photocopying as and when required.

“Aside from working in the banking hall, the interns will go out with relationship managers to visit and meet customers. During these visits, they will learn about business development, business ethics and the right attitude required to work in a bank and other institutions,” he added.

On how to qualify as an intern at their bank, Mr Quaye said children whose parents have opened an account for them with an amount of GHS300 in either their Kids First or Me First accounts could apply to be part of the programme and urged parents who haven’t opened an account for their children to do so in order to enrol them on the internship programme.

 
He asked parents who want their children to do so in order to participate to call 0260860250 or 0596921921 for more details.

He said although the internship programme was not school based, the bank was working closely with some schools as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) to offer pupils and students the opportunity to benefit this year.

 “We are introducing an essay writing competition this year to test the interns on what they learn during the five days of training in the banks,” he disclosed. 

It would not be compulsory but I encourage all participants to take part because there would be attractive prizes at stake. The first prize winner will receive an amount of GHS5,000, the second prize winner will also take home GHS3,000 and the third place winner will be given GHS2,000,” he added. 

The Junior Internship Programme was introduced last year by the bank and more than 300 schoolchildren benefited from it.