Life Compass » Why Isn't Financial Education taught in Schools?

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If ever there was a time for better financial education then surely it is now? When you look at the state of many of the economies around the world it’s a mystery why financial education is not compulsory schools. It is easy to blame banks, big business or governments for the current climate but it is the education of individuals that need to change.

At school, we may have learned some skills necessary to get a job, but nobody tells us how to create or manage our wealth. If we cannot educate ourselves on ways to obtain and retain our money, we are headed for a future financial disaster.

In the USA, individual debt is growing 23 times faster than the economy. It is a similar situation in many other developed nations, for example the credit card debt in the UK is over £220bn or an average of £3175 per person. Thousands of college graduates who have invested in their education are facing a student loan crisis. The job market is shrinking, and the sour economy is preventing employers, parents and relatives from helping those who are behind on payments,” USA Today reports. “Student loan defaults are at their highest rate since 1998, and likely will go higher” People are even losing their homes and have no money to retire on. It is estimated that the average person today will require $ 1.5 million by 65 years of age to retire comfortably.

Some argue that a better way to teach children about money is in the home, which may have its merits but may create something of a vicious circle: when parents are financially illiterate — they’re not likely to teach their kids very well, are they? Which means that the minority of people, who are smart about money, will (potentially), raise kids who are also smart, while for the rest the cycle will continue.

Another argument put forward against financial education in schools, centres on the twin pillars of lack of time and lack of money. School curricula are already crowded places and a significant financial education programme would have to come at the expense of something already in place. Few teachers would have the necessary competence and confidence to deliver such programmes without the need for additional training and resourcing.

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