International Youth Day: Barclays invites children to discover banking

In context of the International Youth Day, annually celebrated on 12 August, Barclays Bank Mauritius opened its doors to children and teenagers for two days, inviting them to discover the banking world. Over two days, some thirty staff members of Barclays Bank at Ebene accompanied the young people. The initiative of Barclays Bank, in line with the International Youth Day, was to support young people.

On the first day of activities, around forty college students aged between 15 and 17 had the opportunity to spend the day in different departments of the Barclays House in Ebène and discover their respective functions. The youth also had the chance to explore their own career aspirations through the various information they received about the different future perspectives in the banking sector.

Renuka Jacquette, Community Investment Manager at the bank, explained that the aim was to empower the youngsters so as to allow them to better consider their personal and professional future. “The fact that they discovered of a profession and talked to professionals gave them new directions.”

Halen Arnassalon, aged ten, who participated in the event, displayed great enthusiasm. “It’s really interesting to do these activities in a bank. I found out where my father works,” he said. Manshika Dewkarun, 18-year old student at Loreto College Rose-Hill, also welcomed the opportunity to discover the behind the scenes of Barclays Bank. “The interaction with the professionals will certainly help in guiding my career choice.”

For Barclays Bank employees assigned to headquarters and whose children were invited, it was an opportunity to introduce them to their workplace, explained Yasmeen Taher, who works in the IT department. “My son was eager to discover my workplace. Today was an opportunity for him to see what my work environment looks like. This initiative should be renewed to allow more youth to discover a world to which they will be exposed later.”