Primary school kids learning the value of a dollar
With Money Week upon us looks into the state of financial literacy in the classroom.
What you spend your money on today can have a big effect on your wealth in years to come. That’s why Retirement Commissioner Diane Maxwell wants financial education to be part of New Zealand’s school curriculum.
‘‘There’s some great work under way, but it’s too fragmented and it needs centralised planning and direction,’’ she says.
Maxwell says there aren’t enough materials available at all year levels and more work is needed for teachers to feel confident about teaching financial capability.
The Commission for Financial Capability was granted $10.2 million in government funding over four years in May to improve its Sorted Schools programme, which teaches financial literacy to more than 90,000 school children a year.
The funding will go towards teaching materials, engaging boards of trustees, and training teachers.
‘‘The big burning thing under all of this is that we have an aging population,’’ Maxwell says.
‘‘These guys will live into their 90s and past 100, so if you ease off working at 70, where are you going to get your money from for 30 years?’’
Maxwell says it’s all too easy for teenagers to be sucked into the world of debt, which is the theme for this year’s Sorted Money Week.
‘‘When people leave school they’re young and hungry for stuff. They can end up getting themselves into a lot of debt and it’s not student debt, it’s just debt for stuff.’’
One programme that is already having an impact on primary school kids is Banqer, an online education system that teaches money skills to children aged between six and 12.
Co-founder Kendall Flutey wants the commission to raise the awareness of programmes such as hers so financial education can spread faster.
‘‘There is a lot of room for improvement. We have kids who don’t understand the difference between a want and a need,’’ Flutey says.
‘‘The main challenge we have at the moment is the battle for the curriculum. As soon as we can get these initiatives into the core of our education system the better for New Zealand.’’
Banqer recently partnered with Kiwibank so lower socioeconomic schools can access the software. This year, Kiwibank has committed to sponsoring 2100 classrooms – about 63,000 students.
‘‘We project Banqer will be used by 50,000 kids by the end of the year across more than 30 per cent of all primary and intermediate schools, but with support from the commission and government funding we could reach that scale a lot faster,’’ Flutey says.
Auckland’s Murrays Bay Primary School teacher Alison Troy says: ‘‘We have utilised Banqer as a teaching tool about writing CVs, applying for jobs, learning about responsibility and self management, saving and using a deposit to buy a house.
‘‘The favourites of the class are when teachers cause a disaster – they need to have insurance – or when we roll the dice of life to see if they need to pay a bill or receive a bonus.’’
Maxwell says financial literacy will have the biggest impact once all teachers know how to integrate it into core subjects.
‘‘That’s nirvana for us: in the curriculum with teachers teaching it. If kids learn financial literacy they will gain confidence, money knowledge, and know what to look for. It makes a big difference if you can pull out a calculator and find out what something really costs.’’