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Need for Financial Literacy
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Posted on Apr 16 2002
The Issue: The school system here should include introductory courses on financial literacy–teaching kids, including parents, money skills.
Ask young students about where they get their information about finance and a majority say it’s from their parents. More often than not, those conversations are about kids asking either mom or dad for money to spend, according to a survey by the National Consumers League.
What the league’s survey also found is that a lot of parents aren’t prepared to teach their children money skills. This situation is no different here as it is across the country. Very few teenagers are equipped with money skills. Perhaps only those who do part-time work after school have an inkling of how to manage their meager income.
The school system here (public and private) should begin introductory fun courses on money skills. The course should be taught in classrooms with the view towards parental inclusion in what would eventually benefit both students and parents over the long term.
It should grant both student and family patriarchs the benefits of financial literacy. In days of scarcity–such as the deepening economic crisis here–this course would hone family skills in managing the family pocketbooks.
In Hong Kong, an introductory course on investment begins at the primary school level. Pupils learn about the stock market, how to make stock purchases with the aid of their parents and teachers. The course prepares students not only financial literacy, but investment literacy as well.
An introductory course on financial literacy ought to help students understand how money is earned, the value of the dollar, the essence of saving a portion of it for that rainy day or for tuition and books, among others. Most importantly, the pupil learns how to manage their meager savings as to be able to buckle down to spending only on basic necessities.
This recommendation may be new and strange. But it’s important to get everyone involved–students and parents alike–in securing financial literacy. It’s a healthy pursuit for families down the stretch. Let’s do it.
