Bitcoin and its underlying technology, blockchain, have long played a new role in how students perceive the financial system and money, as can be shown by the number of learners checking what is the price of Bitcoin on a regular basis. With the growing prevalence of the asset and the system backing it, countries, especially developing countries with low economic performance, have regarded Bitcoin as a prolific method to enhance their financial outlook.
El Salvador, the first country to make Bitcoin a legal tender and compel businesses to treat it as such, has since 2021 made continuous efforts to pave a more stable ground for related developments. In light of the advantages of using and legalizing Bitcoin in countries that struggle with brain drain and rely on remittances, BTC is seen as a saving solution in disguise.
With the combined efforts of the Ministry of Education and two other participants, the nation declared that a forward-looking pilot program would start in September of this year and have every school included in a proactive initiative to teach Bitcoin and cryptocurrency to students. The courses will be implemented and taught in every school in the country by next year.
El Salvador has a clear and straightforward vision. Bitcoin could provide the means to attract foreign capital and investors, counterbalance the number of Salvadorians migrating to the U.S. or other countries, and make banking more accessible for anyone. The ambition to help students build knowledge on Bitcoin is one of a kind, and as the nation’s previous efforts have demonstrated, the country is set to succeed in this respect, too.
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The rich history of El Salvador and Bitcoin
El Salvador is the precursor of national experiments with Bitcoin, proposing it as legal tender in 2021 and obligating every company to take the cryptocurrency for their offerings ever since. What started as a proposal in the previous months became a reality when the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender. Furthermore, ahead of the adoption’s launch, the country has invested 400 Bitcoins, equal to around $20 million, as part of the plans to boost the country’s economy by facilitating banking services for Salvadorians, per president Nayib Bukele’s statements.
Some of the expected economic growth triggers would be increased foreign investments, financial inclusion, economic development, and innovation, all due to working with a currency that would permit faster and cheaper transactions. One significant advantage enabled is that transactions in BTC are not taxed under the capital gains law, and foreign BTC investors pouring more than ₿3 in the country can apply and potentially be offered permanent residence.
The effect of the initiative’s completion on BTC
The undertaking was seen as a majorly favorable event for those owning the asset, seeing the price hit for the first time $52,000 since May. However, it quickly lost around 0.51% and traded at approximately $46,500. Before the release, the government had inaugurated ATMs to allow users to convert their dollars into BTC, significantly adding to the costs of the measure’s adoption. Consequently, the state invested around $85.5% million in BTC-related avenues between that month and January 2022.
Just like any other newly proposed process, this project also had its learning curve. The ins and outs of the system weren’t expected to be learned in a day but in years of continuous efforts from the government and organizations responsible for educating the nationals. Thus, one of the most practical strategies of El Salvador to teach the next generation about Bitcoin is to start with today’s students through the national program aimed at forming their knowledge from the ground up.
An introspective of the two years of Bitcoin in El Salvador
As the El Salvador former official stated, the country was no longer sending workforce to the U.S. Instead, it started attracting capital, professionals, companies, and the resources needed to start business operations and create a few job opportunities. Brain drain phenomena have been counterbalanced by brain gain, which was regarded somehow as a reverse migration.
El Salvador set a pattern for other countries in terms of development. An example of the undertaking of that day was the Central African Republic’s declaration of joining the bunch of countries that would push businesses to accept BTC and other cryptos, install ATMs, ease or remove taxation on ownership of these assets, and the list of measures eyed can go on.
The Bitcoin Diploma reshaping the nation’s curriculum
My First Bitcoin, a BTC education-oriented NGO and non-profit entrenched in El Salvador, is regarded as the most crucial participant in the game, having built the system to offer a graduation diploma in Bitcoin courses. Ever since the inception of the NGO’s efforts, they’ve rewarded more than 25,000 students with a physical Bitcoin Diploma, accounting for five editions of 10 weeks of teaching each. According to the organization, the courses provided would offer “base knowledge” of the leading token and would
The Ministry of Education approved several initiatives so far to pave the path for Bitcoin to be taught in public schools. Last year, two public schools in the country would provide a vocational course that educates joiners about Bitcoin and concluded with the grant of a diploma. On August 21st, more than 250 high school students enrolled in courses to build their BTC knowledge and finished with attaining a Bitcoin Diploma. The open-source education program is now in its 5th edition, and the content is entirely available and usable online by interested students. These are just two examples of how far the nation has gone to mold the students’ interest into a valuable asset that would benefit the government. However, the NGO didn’t stop at crafting an educational program but also got involved in initiatives to assist in training or fund the printing of educational books.
Should crypto be taught to students? Apparently, yes!
Bitcoin has been the talk of the decade in financial discussions. Teaching about its advantages and risks is the primary step toward building a well-informed, actualized, and prepared generation in the economic area. Bitcoin isn’t going anywhere, but crypto education to students remains a heated debate. As per El Salvador, students must be taught about the original and largest cryptocurrency before learning anything else about crypto.
So, what’s your stance on this, and do you think students can or should grasp Bitcoin’s intricacies?
