Finnish Hakkari school students from Lempäälä placed in the top 10 at this year’s European Money Quiz, an international financial literacy competition organised by the European Banking Federation (EBF). The two-day event attracted students from 28 European countries.
The quiz finals were played in two rounds on the Kahoot! online platform, and the finalists got to answer the questions in their native language. They were tested on their knowledge of personal finance and their quick thinking. According to Finland’s Antti Hernesniemi and Erno Lehtonen, the questions were relatively easy and the score differences quite small between the finalist teams. The winning team’s trump card was speed.
The first day of the competition involved practicing for the final quiz, socialising, and getting to ring the closing bell at Euronext, the first pan-European exchange.
“The aim of the competition is to raise awareness of the importance of financial literacy and to motivate young people to take responsibility for their personal finances. Being financially prepared for the future and the possibility of financial shocks is fundamental”, says Raymond Frenken, head of communications at the EBF. Finance Finland is EBF’s member.
Erno Lehtonen (left) and Antti Hernesniemi were best in their class and travelled to Brussels for the competition.
Finnish team gave their best
The Finnish team placed in the top 10. The Slovenian team emerged as winners, with the second place going to North Macedonia and the third place to Germany. The winning team’s school received a cash price of €3,000 to spend on a financial education project of their own choice.
Finland’s contestants were picked from schools that use the Zaldo.fi online learning environment. The Zaldo service was developed by Finance Finland, the Finnish Foundation for Share Promotion, the Finnish Financial Ombudsman Bureau (FINE), and Junior Achievement Finland. It is used in more than a hundred schools across Finland.
How would you have done in the finals?
Test yourself with this set of questions!
Not all questions were used in the final round. All contestants could answer the questions in their native language.
