The Financial Services Authority (OJK) in collaboration with the Indonesian Association of Islamic Economists (IAEI) successfully organized the Indonesia Sharia Financial Olympiad (ISFO) 2024 competition as an effort to increase Islamic financial literacy among the younger generation, especially among students. The ISFO 2024 Grand Final was held on Tuesday (17/9) in a hybrid format at the Auditorium of Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) Jakarta and live streaming through OJK's Youtube channel.
OJK Director of Literacy and Finance Horas V. M. Tarihoran in his report explained that the ISFO activity had been opened since June 27, 2024 and was successfully attended by 4,373 student participants. ISFO 2024 consists of two competition categories, namely the Sharia Financial Quiz Competition (CCKS) and the Sharia Young Entrepreneur Competition (WMS). The CCKS competition is aimed at high school/equivalent students and university students to hone their skills in sharia finance. The WMS competition was followed by students who already have a business or micro-enterprise. The three best teams from each category will participate in the ISFO 2024 Grand Final.
MUI National Sharia Council Prof. Dr. K.H. Hasanuddin, M. Ag. in his speech expressed a positive impression on this ISFO activity. According to him, ISFO is a good step to increase Islamic economic literacy to the community, especially the younger generation who will lead the nation in the future.
“I hope junior high school students can participate in this competition. If from a young age they are introduced to sharia economy, then the hope that sharia economy will grow big in Indonesia can be realized. People from all walks of life will understand sharia economy,” said Hasanuddin.
Chief Executive of the Financial Services Business Conduct Supervisor, Consumer Education and Protection of OJK Friderica Widyasari Dewi at the peak event said Indonesia as a country with the largest number of Muslims in the world has great potential in the development of Islamic economics and finance.
“The number of Muslims in Indonesia represents 12.7% of the total Muslim population in the world so it has the potential to become a leader in sharia economy and finance in the world. Indonesia should not be a market share for foreign countries,” said Friderica.
According to Friderica, ISFO has succeeded in increasing sharia economic and financial literacy among students. This is evidenced by a total of 3,749 new LMSKU accounts opened by ISFO participants to get learning related to Islamic finance. Participants fully utilize OJK's educational services, namely the Financial Education Learning Management System, Sikapiuangmu minisite, and OJK's official website.
The ISFO 2024 Grand Final activity at RRI Jakarta was greeted with great enthusiasm by around 480 participants who attended offline and 350 people who attended online from various Indonesian students and students from Madrasah Aliyah Negeri (MAN) Insan Cendekia Batam City, MAN 2 Malang City, MAN Insan Cendekia East Lampung, Airlangga University, University of Indonesia, Brawijaya University, Pertamina University, Padjadjaran University, and UPN Veteran East Java.
