Primary School Students set to be taught to Manage Money in 2014

Diana Chai

18th September 2013 - 2 min read

Bringing finance into the classroom.

If all goes well in the plans of the Education Ministry and Bank Negara to teach financial literacy in schools by 2014 as reported by the News Straits Times; your child may likely be teaching you how to manage money.

In an effort to promote financial literacy and money management as a life skill; teachers will undergo training in the subject from next year onwards.

Bank Negara consumer and market conduct department director, Suhaimi Ali feels strongly about educating the young on financial management.

“We need sound financial literacy initiatives to ensure that students can effectively plan and sustain their retirement,” he said at a seminar on financial literacy and retirement savings organised by the Employees Provident Fund here yesterday.

He stressed on the increasing number of bankruptcy cases amongst the younger generation that showed a clear need to educate and build awareness from a young age on the risks of financial mismanagement.

“By 2015, we hope that financial education will be promoted as a life skill.

“There must also be greater access to information on financial management through interactive programmes and mobile applications, coupled with a network to drive financial education initiatives at the national level.”

But the initiative doesn’t end with the children. Suhaimi also took parents to task for indulging their children’s every whim without clear guidance on proper saving and spending habits.

“The initiatives should be fine-tuned to target parents, too, as they play a crucial role in advocating financial literacy to their children.”

The plan is a noble one but with many teachers still grappling with teaching simple, compulsory subjects such as English; it remains to be seen if the curriculum will serve the purpose for which is was intended or fail on execution.

Picture courtesy of CE Photo at Wikimedia Commons.

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