School Money Lessons Could Improve Financial Outlook
15 December 2011
I am glad that my work has already been recognised and I am delighted to see this report highlighting the issue to Government ministers. I feel very strongly that personal finance education needs to be an important part of the curriculum.
”Education Studies student Vicki Carr
An MPs' report calling for schools to teach children how to handle money properly has been backed by a University of Derby student - whose own earlier research came to the same conclusion.
On Monday (December 12) an all-Parliamentary committee of MPs said there was an urgent need for children to be taught personal finance. Their report on the matter was pre-empted by research by Vicki Carr - a final year student on Derby's BA (Hons) Education Studies degree course - who investigated the level of personal finance education given in a Derby secondary school, and attitudes to money among 13 and 14-year-olds.
Her report found teenagers knew education on cash handling was important and wanted more - but that teachers have to find time to include this teaching amongst other competing pressures.
Vicki said: "I have seen first-hand how a lack of knowledge and understanding of financial matters can lead adults to make poor financial decisions and end up with large overdrafts and debts, and personally I didn't receive any education on the subject at school.
"While studying a degree in Education Studies at Derby I became interested in the level of personal finance education that children were receiving, as I believe that some formal education on the subject would have been really valuable to me and people I know.
"No matter what career path these children go on to take, all will have to manage their own finances - mortgages, bills, credit cards, savings and pensions - and of course if they want to enter higher education, the students loans system."
Through her study Vicki discovered that although the National Curriculum (2010) states that education should 'be relevant to children and prepare them for the here and now and for their future', all Government funding of personal finance education in schools was halted in 2011.
"In the school I visited I found that teachers had a positive attitude towards financial awareness, but they do not have the support from the Government to provide it. And, as it is not a subject the school is measured on, it is not a priority for them.
"In this school, the personal finance education was taught amongst other subject areas, but there were no formal classes. This meant that the pupils were unsure about what they have received."
Of the 26 Year Nine students Vicki spoke to, 58% said they had not received any personal finance sessions at school, although 65% felt it was an important part of their education, and 96% felt that personal finance should be taught.
"On talking to the children in a focus group it became clear that many had mobile phone contracts and bank accounts, however they found the subject of managing their future finances confusing and scary."
After her study was brought to the attention of the 'ifs School of Finance' which has a role in educating people on personal finance, Vicki was invited to London to brief its Vice Principal, Rod McKee, on her work. She was then interviewed in its magazine.
"I am glad that my work has already been recognised and I am delighted to see this report highlighting the issue to Government ministers. I feel very strongly that personal finance education needs to be an important part of the curriculum," she added. "Financial capability must be considered a core subject in its own right and a skill inseparable from all other life skills which supports the success of an individual's life.
"Our children's lack of finance education will only compound to our population's poor financial decision making, adding to the nation's national debt woes."
Vicki also claims that a lack of understanding on loans and personal finance will impact on children's decisions on post-18 education. "If young people don't understand the loans system and how it will affect their future income levels, how can they be expected to make the decision to take on the debt?"
The University of Derby's Senior Lecturer in Education Studies, Jon White, said: "When Vicki came to me with this idea for her independent study, it was clear how strongly she felt about the issue. It was a pleasure to work with a student who had so many great ideas and could apply theory to practice so effectively."
On completing her degree later this December, Vicki hopes to go on to pursue a career in education policy.
For more information on studying Education at the University of Derby visit www.derby.ac.uk/education
