Thursday 22/01/2026

^{Team Bags & Books selling their wares to their schoolmates.} 


KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 (Bernama) -- Team Bags & Books from SK Rantau Panjang, Selangor, emerged victorious as the champions of the 2025 Good SENS (Social Enterprise Network for Schools) National Dragons’ Den competition, clinching the title of Best Overall Social Enterprise 2025 at the Financial Industry Collective Outreach’s (FINCO) Annual Awards 2025 held recently.
 
Their social enterprise saw them upcycling over 122kg of banners and 85kg of old jeans into 1,000 bags which they sold to generate an income of over RM4,400. They then used the income to pay members from their community who had helped to sew the bags, and also sponsored RM850 worth of books for pupils in need. Their profits of RM2,210 will be used to continue their business.
 
Dragons’ Den judges from the financial industry said they deserved this win as they demonstrated a strong blend of financial acumen and social responsibility by improving literacy for struggling readers while effectively reducing environmental waste.
 
The judges also commended runner-up Team M.E.I Enterprise from SK Taginambur, Sabah, for their innovative "honesty kiosk"—a business model that operated on trust, allowing them to sell snacks and stationery that were not available in their school without needing them to man the booth. This enabled the team to run a profitable business that did not require them to skip class. Income from their business was then used to purchase school uniforms for their friends in need.
 
FINCO’s CEO, Clare Walker said, “Seeing primary school students build real businesses and champion social causes every year is an indicator that the work we do in schools ensures students understand financial principles from a young age, which is a foundational life skill.”
 
Nurturing Young Entrepreneurs
 
Good SENS is FINCO’s flagship financial literacy programme, developed to address low financial literacy skills amongst young people in Malaysia. Through participation in this programme, upper primary school students learn about financial management concepts in a fun and engaging way while applying their knowledge by running their own social enterprise. In 2025, the programme trained over 430 students and 84 teachers and saw students across Malaysia successfully set up 62 social enterprises, generating over RM50,000. Teachers are also trained to support students during the 6-month programme.
 
“As a teacher, I am more confident in managing the students and guiding them to understand financial literacy concepts and how to apply these concepts in their daily lives,” said Teacher Sunita from SK Rantau Panjang.
 
Teacher Che Bunga from SK Mergong, Kedah, echoed this sentiment, saying, “Students learn about selling, buying and gaining profit. The fact that they are able to set-up a real social enterprise shows that they are able to apply the financial literacy concepts in real life.”
 
This year, the programme was also supported by 96 volunteers from AIG Malaysia Insurance Berhad, AmBank (M) Berhad, BNP Paribas Malaysia Berhad, CIMB Bank Berhad, Generali Life Insurance Malaysia Berhad, Hong Leong Assurance Berhad, Manulife Investment Management (M) Berhad, Prudential Assurance Malaysia Berhad, Public Investment Bank Berhad, RHB Foundation, Tune Protect Group Berhad, and Zurich Life Insurance Malaysia Berhad.
 
Empowering Educators as Financial Role Models
 
The FINCO Annual Awards 2025, which also paid recognition to dedicated educators and students in other FINCO programmes, introduced two new awards this year to celebrate the progress of the Train-the-Trainer (TTT): Personal Financial Management for Teachers programme, a collaboration with the Financial Education Network (FEN).
 
Launched in August 2025, the programme began with training government school teachers and lecturers from the Institute of Teacher Education Malaysia (IPGM) to become programme trainers who would cascade personal financial management workshops to other teachers nationwide. Thus far, the programme has provided learning opportunities to teachers in government schools across Malaysia, supporting them in improving their long-term financial wellbeing.
 
The two new awards were the:

● Outstanding Trainer Icon: Awarded to six dedicated trainers from Port Dickson, who achieved exceptional results including a 49% increase in participant confidence to deliver financial-literacy knowledge and a 99% satisfaction rate.

● Outstanding Caretaker Icon: Awarded to Stalin Juan Anak Thomas from the Sarawak State Education Department for his guidance and commitment in leading a team of trainers. His team demonstrated impressive progress in Sarawak workshops, recording a 43% increase in confidence to deliver financial-literacy knowledge and a 21% improvement in learning outcomes. 

Through the cascading workshops, the TTT programme has already benefitted 2,771 teachers across 12 states, with improved ability to apply financial knowledge rising from 59% pre-workshop to 75% post-workshop.
 
Commenting on this success, FINCO’s Chairman, Tan Sri Azman Hashim said, “The support we’ve seen from the financial industry and the Financial Education Network have been crucial in rolling out these programmes and achieving such impactful results, which underscore FINCO’s commitment to contributing meaningfully to the national agenda of fostering financial resilience and literacy across Malaysia.”
 
“With TTT in particular, the tangible improvement that we are seeing in teachers’ financial well-being and confidence highlights the importance of investing in them as they are the primary conduits for knowledge transfer,” he added. 

About the Financial Industry Collective Outreach
The Financial Industry Collective Outreach (FINCO) is a collaborative initiative pioneered by financial institutions in Malaysia with the guidance of Bank Negara Malaysia to provide underprivileged children and youth with the guidance and educational tools they need to achieve their life goals. FINCO seeks to achieve these objectives through inclusive educational initiatives under four strategic pillars - English Proficiency and Life Aspiration, Financial Literacy and Disaster Relief.

FINCO Website: www.finco.my
Instagram: finco_my
Facebook: fincomalaysia
LinkedIn: company/fincomy


SOURCE: Financial Industry Collective Outreach (FINCO)

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES, PLEASE CONTACT:
Name: Ms. Hannah Jonas
Communications and Event Manager, FINCO
Tel: 014 649 4295
E-mail: hannah.jonas@finco.my

--BERNAMA