Children To Be Given Lessons On Money, Savings And Debt

Tue, 05 Jan 2010

Children as young as five will be taught how to manage their finances from next year under new plans announced by the Government.

All pupils in England aged five to 16 will be given financial literacy lessons as part of a new personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) curriculum which will be compulsory from September 2011.

Under the new curriculum, school pupils between the age of five and seven could be taught how to identify different coins and notes, and how to save money, while pupils aged 7 to 11 could learn about managing bank and savings accounts and how to budget.

In secondary school, pupils aged 11 to 14 could be given lessons on credit cards, loans and mortgages, or about managing household finances, while 14-16-year-olds could be taught about debt and the effects it can have on people.

Commenting on the move, schools secretary Ed Balls said it is important kids leave school "with a basic understanding of how to manage their money" so that they avoid the risk of getting into debt .

He said: "It's really important we teach our children about money matters like pensions, responsible saving and effective money management .

"We need to make sure all young people have the information they need to prepare them for the complexities of today's modern world so they can give security to their families."

Martin Lewis, creator of MoneySavingExpert.com, added: "We encourage our youth into debt when they go to university, but the disgrace is we've never educated them about debt - no surprise that over the last 20 years we've dug a hell hole of personal borrowing problems."
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