Since 2002, the Shares for Schools Program has been providing high school students with the opportunity to gain an insight into the business of a public company. In September, each school that participates in the program receives a parcel of Macarthur Coal’s shares. For the first three years of the program, schools received shares to the value of $2,000 however, in 2005, this was increased to $5,000. The shares are held in trust for two years with dividends reinvested on behalf of the schools. Schools are encouraged to track the performance of the company from the perspective of real shareholders. Shares held in trust mature after two years and schools are then given a choice of retaining their shares with ownership transferred to the school or selling the shares for the benefit of their parents and citizens associations. To date, three groups have matured with all but two schools opting to retain their shares.
A teacher and a student representative from each school are invited to attend the company’s Annual General Meeting.
Following the Annual general Meeting one student from each school in the current group of participating schools is invited to submit a report on matters concerning financial markets and issues affecting publicly-listed companies to be eligible for the Macarthur Coal Award which is a $5,000 scholarship towards university fees and an additional $5,000 worth of shares for their school.
Macarthur Coal is proud of the positive feedback received from the students and teachers involved in the program.