Children should learn more about finances – say teachers
09/06/2014
A survey has revealed that nine in 10 school teachers believe the government is not doing enough to teach children about money, despite the introduction of a new scheme aimed at doing this.
A recent scheme will mean that as of September 2014, children aged 11 and over will learn in secondary school about money and how to manage their personal finances.
However, the study by the Personal Finance Education Group (pfeg) found that 83 per cent of teachers believe that children should learn about finances earlier than this, and should instead start learning about money at primary school.
In the same survey, 70 per cent of teachers said that students encounter money situations earlier than they used to – potentially explaining their reasoning about why children should be taught about finance at a younger age.
These claims also backed up a recent study by the Money Advice Service, who found that financial habits can be established by the age of seven.
‘Failing our responsibility’
Speaking about the findings, Tracey Bleakley, chief executive of pfeg said: “Every school” should teach pupils how to manage money, and by not doing so “we are failing our responsibility as a society to prepare young people for the challenges they will face throughout their adult lives.”
Bleakley added that whilst the introduction of financial education at secondary schools is a “huge leap forward”, we are still “missing out on a huge opportunity to improve financial capability in the UK” by not teaching the subject at primary school.
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