Education

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  • Stakeholders4
    Stakeholders

Education is the cornerstone of our social commitment, and the most important program in this area is Santander Universidades globally implemented by the entire Santander Group.

  • support members of local communities to develop professional competences to improve their labour market position and consequently our common future,
  • support entrepreneurship – we want to help implement good ideas in business.

The backbone of the Santander Universidades program is a scholarship platform which in 2023 changed its name to Santander Open Academy.

  • training courses that focus on developing competences and increasing competitiveness in the labour market,
  • educational materials – ebooks, audiobooks, podcasts and videos,
  • scholarships and financial awards, i.e. economic support for the academic community.

The access to Santander Open Academy is free of charge and available to anyone over the age of 16. Those interested in acquiring new competences can take advantage of programmes offered by various universities and educational institutions from all over the world.

The bank cooperates with many Polish universities where Santander Universidades has its branches. We promote cooperation between business and academia and contribute to improving the quality of the education process and adapting candidates to the needs of the job market. In 2023, a 13th Santander Universidades branch in Poland was officially opened in the building of the Main Library of the Cracow University of Economics.

Przykładowe programy Santander Open Academy:

  • Szkolenie Santander Angielski i IELTS
    z British Council 2023     – program dla osób mieszkających w Polsce, które chcą poprawić swoje kompetencje językowe. Szkolenie oferuje naukę na platformie, zajęcia z lektorami oraz możliwość zdania
    certyfikatu IELTS. Wzięło w nim udział blisko 10 tys. osób, a ponad 110 zdało test IELTS.
  • Szkolenie Santander „Inwestowanie na giełdzie SGH & GPW 2023” – program dla przyszłych i początkujących inwestorów. 400 uczestników wzięło udział w bezpłatnym cyklu szkoleń online z zakresu inwestowania na giełdzie i poznało niezbędne zagadnienia, takie jak funkcjonowanie rynku kapitałowego i giełdy, zasady inwestowania, analiza spółek, sposoby oceny ryzyka, psychologia inwestowania i wiele innych. 40 najlepszych uczestników wzięło udział w warsztacie inwestowania w budynku Giełdy Papierów Wartościowych

GOOD PRACTICE

In 2023, representatives of the authorities of the 30 Polish universities working most closely with our bank and representatives of the Santander Bank Polska Group took part in the 5th International Rectors' Meeting in Valencia. The meeting is one of the most important events in higher education. It brought together more than 700 rectors, academics, political and business figures from 14 countries. Speakers discussed how universities can further support society in sustainable development, and the event provided an opportunity to discuss the role of academia in the face of challenges facing society.

The meeting was inaugurated by Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain, together with Ana Botín, President of the Santander Group and Universia. From Poland, the event was attended by, among others, Board President Michał Gajewski, Board members Arkadiusz Przybył and Magdalena Proga-Stepień, as well as Marta Pszczoła, Director of the Department of Talent Management and Corporate Culture Transformation, Mariusz Chojnacki, Director of the Public Sector and Higher Education Office and Wojciech Leśniewski, Director of Santander Universidades in Poland.

In addition to the activities organised by Santander Universidades, Santander Bank Polska S.A. also supports the financial education of children and young people. Since 2016 ”Finansiaki”, a proprietary project of the bank,  has been implemented, which provides parents and teachers with advice, guidance and training materials on financial education. These materials are free of charge and available at www.finansiaki.pl. Additional tips are published on the ”Finansiaki To My”  Facebook and Instagram profiles.

”Finansiaki” in numbers:

  • 15,213
    downloads of lesson plans for teachers, educational articles and an e-book guide for parents "Finansiaki. To my" from the finansiaki.pl website
  • 1,052
    children from primary schools and kindergartens took part in financial education classes conducted by Santander Bank Polska employee volunteers
  • 14,315
    315 copies of "Finansiaki. To my" guide in pdf version, sent to Santander Bank Polska customers together with regulations for an account for children up to the age of 12 between January and December 2023
  • 821,335
    recipients of the educational campaign "The Young and Money" carried out in cooperation with Onet.pl.
  • 506
    pupils attending lessons conducted by teachers in primary schools and kindergartens (on the basis of ready-made lesson scripts downloaded from the finansiaki.pl portal)

In 2023 the bank, in partnership with MCA BIS Sp. z o.o, organised the second edition of a series of financial education workshops called Financial Games for teenagers  aged 12 to 15.  The classes took place in ten Polish cities and students took part in a financial strategy game. Their task was to manage their budgets in the best possible way and gain knowledge about, among other things, payment types, credit, loans, interest, demand, supply or cyber security.

Financial Games in numbers:

  • The workshops were held in September and October 2023 in 10 cities: Toruń, Szczecin, Olsztyn, Gdynia, Łódź, Legnica, Kraków, Rzeszów, Kalisz, Ostrów Wielkopolski.
  • 5 thematic areas: 1. Money, payments and cyber security; 2. Demand, supply and prices; 3. Advertising and its influence on purchase decisions; 4. Credits and loans; 5. Savings and interest.
  • Number of beneficiaries/students trained: almost 2500; number of classes: 138, number of participating schools: 50
  • Evaluation surveys: initial and final, checking students' knowledge: average increase in knowledge was +29 pp. The largest increase was in the area of banking with an average of +44 pp.
  • Workshops as assessed by teachers: 5.9 (on a 1-6 scale).

Santander Bank Polska is also a partner of the project Security in Cyberspace, which was launched in 2017 and is coordinated by the Warsaw Institute of Banking (WIB). The aim of the project is to impart basic knowledge on broadly understood online security and to develop practical skills related to the use of new technologies, as well as to raise awareness of cyber threats and develop appropriate attitudes in the area of cyber security.

Security in Cyberspace in numbers:

  • In 2023, the project involved, among other things: lessons for primary and secondary school students, lectures for first-year students, knowledge tests Cyber Genius Student (2,891 participants), Cyber Genius Student (1,000 participants), educational trainings (workshops) with seniors, activities on the occasion of the European Cyber Security Month: a nationwide online lesson with a Santander Bank Poland expert on cyber security (6,409 participants) and two other lessons for primary and secondary schools (approx. 3,000 people).
  • In 2023, a total of approximately 2,000 lessons, lectures, webinars, training courses, e-learning, conferences and competitions were conducted as part of the project. The project reached approximately 286 958  participants (children and young people, students, seniors).

Detailed information about the project is available at https://cyberbezpieczenstwo.edu.pl or https://cyber.wib.edu.pl/.

GOOD PRACTICE

As part of its social financial education activities, Santander Consumer Bank S.A. publishes #PolakówPortfelWłasny thematic reports on financial management, the security of finances online or financing the purchase of used and electric cars.