MSE News: Compulsory financial education plans axed

The_Dame

If there had been compulsory financial education when I was at school, I would not now be in great debt and worried about my future. FACT. Everything I've learnt about credit cards, I learnt far too late.

I'm an undecided voter and this setback is going some way to helping me decide who'll get my vote.

SnowMan

From personal experience financial education is something that desperately needs to be on the curriculum

Along with some other volunteers from the local CAB we ran a financial skills morning for the year 10 pupils of a local school last year. Had sessions on debt and credit. It was clearly something they found really useful.

I spoke to the local representative of PFEG (Personal Finance Education Group) who are clearly doing some fabulous work in schools, to check we weren't duplicating anything they were doing, but certainly around here they don't have the resources to go along to schools except on rare occasions.

This really is disappointing news.

lynneinjapan

I was one of the lucky ones, brought up by parents who had a good understanding of the way finance works and with a philosophy of living within my means. Many of my peers were not so fortunate, and as a result have ended up in debt. It's all very well to say that it's the job of the parents to teach their children this stuff, but if the parents knew enough to be able to teach it then they wouldn't be as deeply in debt as many of them are. Financial education would be far more useful and relevant to the average teenager than a lot of other things they are taught in school (and I speak as a maths teacher).

bhupen

I went to high school around 20 years ago and in a recent discussion with some friends the overwhelming thing that we wish we had been taught was about finances. One of the most interesting ideas we came up with was if someone had given you £100 (random amount) and said that you had to double it by the following year. The following year you are asked to double your fund further etc. Over time you get to learn about investing and types of investments, profit and loss, interest rates, inflation, enterprise etc. It would also give an insight into building finances for the future such as pensions etc.

Assuming the best case scenario then you would have £1m by the time you turned 30 years old. Of course, that is quite pie in the sky, however you would have a strong possibility of having a 5-figure sum by the time you turned 25 years old and be able to step on the property ladder. It would also enable better money management during the higher education and university years as well. After all, how many people are still paying off university debt long after they have left.

trynsave

I totally agree that financial awareness should be thaught in schools, but I must question the teacher's ability and resources to do that effectively. Who says all teachers are financially aware enough themselves?

I work as a teaching assistant in a local school where the teachers barely have the time to teach what is on the national curriculum now. I am guessing that if this is brought in it will be for a couple of lessons over the course of a few weeks, perhaps alongside some other topic, almost as a token gesture. To me it smacks of political rhetoric so they can say "...we are doing something", without that 'something' really being too effective. Rush it in and we will only end up with some useless, ill-thought out legislation as is so often the case!

I also think that as adults it is easy to say "I wish I had learnt that at school", but honestly how many of us would have listened and really heard and understood? Add to that the amount of children I see (in quite a good school), who have trouble with basic maths skills such as multiplying and dividing by 10 and you get an idea of how difficult many adults find percentages and interest rates!

In my opinion, for what it is worth, financial education in schools is yet another example of the State having to try to mop up after people who have relinquished their own personal responsibilities. Although I am not old enough to remember personally (not quite anyway), generations ago people would have done anything in their power to stay out of debt. Now it is almost a badge of honour!

We need to change the culture of wanting everything bigger and better and right now, but sadly I personally don't think anyone can change what appears to be the human capacity for avarice. If education can address that issue then we might just turn the corner. Pessimistically I think that, human nature being what it is, if cheap money continues to be readily available people will take it everytime! Debit and credit cards have almost usurped the need for physical money in today's society.

I am definately NOT saying we should do nothing, but just questioning how effective it really would be. It is very difficult to talk to youngsters about ISAs when their family has trouble getting to the end of the week with money in their pocket, and how do you warn against credit when some families exist on it? By all means teach the children, we have to do something, but not in isolation.

glossyhair

I am disappointed but hardly surprised that this has been dropped. The country runs on credit and the banks/credit card companies make huge profits from the people (which they then put in the pockets of their senior staff). Surely it is in their interest to keep the general public, of all ages, in the dark so they can continue to take advantage of a lack of knowledge and awareness.

I was not taught any money management skills by my disinterested parents or in school, or anyone else for that matter, and have found myself seriously deep in debt on two occasions. Obviously I cannot say for sure if things would have been different if I had a better understanding earlier (i.e. before I discovered the MSE site and ethos) but I do suspect that might have been the case.

Sprice_2

My daughter took the IFS level 2 Certificate in Personal Finance qualification as one of her GCSE options. What she has learned has been excellent and given her some good skills for life, I'd recommend it to any parent/child thinking about their options. I can't link it but the details are on the ifslearning website.

immoral_angeluk

I do think the onus should be on parents to raise children to be financially aware, BUT it should also be taught in schools, without a doubt. But the trouble is if the family you're raised in are useless with money they're setting bad foundations from the offset, so no amount of education in schools will help.

Edit: However, having said this, my parents were crap with money and I grew up surrounded by debt and I've gone the total opposite way through my own personal experiences with debt.

DarkConvict

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

Edit: However, having said this, my parents were crap with money and I grew up surrounded by debt and I've gone the total opposite way through my own personal experiences with debt.

Ah, but would you have gotten into debt in the first place. You have learned from your own mistakes, i know you became debt free only recently.
I think we not teach our children to learn from the mistakes of the past, rather than just prepare them to fix there mistakes after they have made them.

immoral_angeluk

DarkConvict wrote: »

Ah, but would you have gotten into debt in the first place. You have learned from your own mistakes, i know you became debt free only recently.
I think we not teach our children to learn from the mistakes of the past, rather than just prepare them to fix there mistakes after they have made them.

Who knows, I can't remember half the stuff I learned at school :rotfl: I think the problem with kids is that they only learn from their mistakes, and the more you tell them not to do something, they more they'll end up doing it..

Then again my kids are 3 and 5 :rotfl: