Government urged to provide student finance lessons
More than 80 MPs have signed an early day motion calling on the government to introduce stand-alone GCSEs and A-levels in personal finance.
The motion, tabled by the Liberal Democrat MP for Falmouth and Camborne, Julia Goldsworthy, has attracted cross-party support.
The motion outlines concerns over rising debt levels in Britain and criticises the government for doing little to address the problem. Schools and colleges, it said, should be encouraged to adopt specific financial qualifications and teachers should get training in how to teach it.
"Many people struggle to manage their finances effectively, primarily as a result of poor levels of financial capability. This has implications not only for the individual concerned but also for the wider community and the economy as a whole," said Ms Goldsworthy, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury.
"Low levels of financial capability can be remedied by ensuring all students have access to meaningful financial education. However, with the exception of the ifs School of Finance qualifications, there is currently a real lack of financial education in schools and that's why we are calling on the government to take such action."
The ifs School of Finance offers certificate and diploma courses in financial studies for 14 to 19-year-olds, which teach pupils how to use cash machines and cheques, draw up budgets and advise on the benefits of shopping around before you buy.
Anne Kiem, the director of external affairs at ifs, said financial education should be a dedicated, stand-alone subject, rather than something "scattered across a range of non-statutory, non-assessed subjects, such as citizenship, enterprise education or personal, social and health education".
She said that ifs wants the government to make personal finance part of the national curriculum.
"Adding personal finance to the curriculum in this way would give financial education an equal footing with a wide range of other subjects, demonstrating that government is serious about the need for future generations to become financially capable," said Ms Kiem. "We believe doing so would lead to a step change in the number of young people leaving school with the necessary skills to manage their own finances effectively."
The motion reads: "That this House notes with concern that the total debt of British families is larger than the UK's gross domestic product and that 79% of consumers do not know what an APR [annual percentage rate] is; further notes that little real progress has been achieved to address this problem; believes that financial capability is an essential life skill along with numeracy, literacy and IT; recognises the outstanding work of the ifs School of Finance as the only provider of GCSE, AS and A-level equivalent qualifications in personal finance; and calls on the government to build on that experience by encouraging all schools and colleges to offer stand alone qualifications in personal finance and by training more teachers to teach such programmes.
Source: guardian.co.uk
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