Today’s blog is more on the educational side.

While living in child care institutions, children are kept in a protective environment. They have nothing to worry about. However, it is not the same when they are left to live independently after the age of 18 years. Due to disengagement, relocation, and early school exit, care leavers miss out on both crucial financial socialization in the home and financial instruction in school. Due to the lack of the skills necessary to manage their finances, many care leavers spend money when they have it with no sense of saving it and end up in debt.

I remember when I first received my pay, I was more keen to spend it on things I could afford rather than saving it because at home it was never the topic of discussion at home, and I feel all my fellow team members had gone through the similar experience. We gradually realised the need of financial literacy, but not every care leaver is fortunate enough to acquire the same understanding. As a result, we decided to host an online Income Tax Return Filing session to educate care leavers on how to file an ITR with the assistance of our mentor. Care leavers who attended the session heard the term Income Tax Return Filing for the very first time. As the discussion progressed, they were amazed and surprised to learn about the benefits of ITR filing, as many of them present had been working for a long time. My team ensured that every care leaver present at the session filed an ITR and supported those who needed assistance. To ensure that this information reaches a wider audience, the team created a video that explains each step of submitting the ITR online.