Junior Achievement Worldwide and financial services firm HSBC have announced a three-year, $3.4 million commitment to expand the JA More Than Money program to an international audience.

The grant will be used to implement the program, which teaches basic financial skills to students in the third through fifth grades, in fifteen countries across five continents during the 2008-09 academic year and additional countries the following year. The expanded program hopes to reach more than a hundred thousand children in its first three years.

A 2007 assessment by an independent evaluator showed that U.S. students who had participated in the program demonstrated significantly greater knowledge and retention of financial concepts compared to their non-participating peers. According to a recent survey, approximately 70 percent of parents said their child has not had any formal training in money management, either in school or outside the home, while 76 percent said that schools should be required to teach money management skills.

"As the world faces further economic uncertainty, it is important that we equip our children with the financial literacy skills they need to make wise decisions in how they spend and save their money," said Simon Martin, head of Group Corporate Sustainability at HSBC. "HSBC is committed to improving financial literacy in the countries in which we operate for the benefit of both local communities and our shareholders."