A sixth-form class at University Technical College Heathrow studies risk and reward during the lesson before lunch.
The students are animated and involved, debating topics like the risks of trading bitcoin, the morality of gambling, and whether people with mortgages actually own their homes. The courses are not just academic because many of the 16 and 17-year-olds work part-time, and some are already exploring apprenticeship offers or student loans.
Myron Mascarenhas, who has previously traded and even mined bitcoin, said: “We’re at an age to learn about this – to understand how to save, invest, and not spend impulsively.” “We need the money – we must put money aside for what we want.”
Many students share the desire to learn about financial issues at UTC. The Financial Times set out on a mission to democratize financial knowledge with free, interesting information for young people across the UK when it launched its Financial Literacy and Inclusion Campaign last year.
Although financial education in British schools has advanced, there is still more work to be done, according to instructors, who cite enduring obstacles.
The Urge To Learn More
Nearly three-quarters of 15 to 18-year-olds indicated they wanted to learn more in class about how to manage their money in a 2021 poll by the London Institute of Banking and Finance. However, just 15% of the 2,000 kids polled indicated that their primary source of financial instruction was at school.
An all-party parliamentary panel claims that the UK’s financial education is “patchy,” with many people being introduced to money at a young age but being ill-prepared to manage it.
According to UTC instructor Louise Kelsh, “it’s probably one of the things they’re asking for the most.” There is a knowledge gap in her class, with pupils far superior to teachers on subjects like bitcoin but lacking familiarity with more basic aspects of money management.
According to Sharon Davies, chief executive of the education and employment organization Young Enterprise, financial education is slipping off the agenda. She cited low teacher confidence, limited access to assistance and training, and a lack of incentives.
She claimed it is not enough just to include it in the curriculum since teachers are under so much pressure. The subject is not required in English primary schools, but since 2014, it has been for secondary schools.
The Money Charity, which focuses on supporting money management, called its inclusion a “Pyrrhic victory.” The report claimed that due to a lack of “resourcing, teacher training, and prioritization,” financial topics were still being taught regularly.
According to Mark Fawcett, founder of the branding agency We Are Futures, greater accountability in educational institutions could help the situation. He suggested holding instructors accountable for not emphasizing financial education by adding it to school inspections.
However, instructors say that positive reinforcement, or “carrots” instead of “sticks,” is more successful. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies research tank, government funding for English schools has significantly decreased over the past ten years. It won’t reach pre-austerity levels until the next year.
Budgets would be pinched as a result, even though schools are already under pressure to help students make up for missed time in class and advance emotionally and socially after years of lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In a survey conducted by the survey app Teacher Tapp, 63% of instructors indicated that a lack of time was the biggest obstacle to developing a program for financial literacy. Another issue is training; 13% of respondents said the biggest challenge was a lack of subject-matter knowledge.
Fawcett claimed, “we tend to have shoveled more and more into schools’ total obligations, without taking anything out.”
Due to the fact that their schools are frequently overcrowded, he continued, this has disproportionately affected children from underprivileged backgrounds. “Children from households with the highest level of ongoing financial stress are receiving an hour-long session from a PSHE [personal social, health, and economic] teacher who may not have the necessary training.”
UTC’s emphasis on vocational education shows the relevance of financial education. Teaching tools, according to Kelsh, are very important for teachers who are short on time. Last week, lessons created by the financial company NatWest were used to teach students about interest rates, debt, and gambling.
To share access to reputable financial education, the FT launched its own charity last year, the Financial Literacy and Inclusion Campaign.
The capacity to recognize when they are being sold to is a vital component of financial literacy for young people. Everyone, not just potential clients, should receive financial education, according to Allam of FLIC.
According to a poll by financial advisers, a lack of financial literacy can exacerbate inequality because wealthier households typically have more time and resources to teach children about money. According to a study by St. James’s Place, teens from wealthier backgrounds performed better on tests of financial literacy than their counterparts from lower-earning households.
Schools are expected to accomplish so much; they serve as social workers, core curriculum providers, and everything else. Financial literacy education will always be low on the list of priorities.
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