Headmistress in Beaconsfield says teaching money skills from a young age is vital
Money and Pensions Service survey found that three in four teachers think students leave education without the financial skills needed
A headmistress in Beaconsfield is telling us teaching money skills to children from an early age could help them be better prepared for adult life.
It follows a Money and Pensions Service (MAPS) survey which found that three in four teachers think students leave education without the financial skills needed for adulthood.
Kate Gater, Headmistress at High March School in Beaconsfield, said: "We start early on in the primary years, setting up the children for their understanding of money, and engaging in it, and finance and economic education, which is really important."
"But they're not necessarily coming out of senior school equipped for the realities of managing money."
"I wonder whether the disappearance of cash is going to have an impact on how children learn about money, because cash is a very concrete thing, and young children can relate that to the concrete idea of pennies and pounds."
Amongst the reasons why young people are having difficulties, Mrs Gater told us the disappearance of cash could be to blame, which is a vital part of learning how to count money from an early age.
She said: "I wonder whether the disappearance of cash is going to have an impact on how children learn about money, because cash is a very concrete thing, and young children can relate that to the concrete idea of pennies and pounds."
"I think we have to find some sort of way to develop their understanding of that and the idea of exchange."
"With cash it's very easy because it's physical and you can see it."
"There is a disconnect between the reality of money and clicking your phone on a machine, and I think that probably links into that risk of getting into debt potentially in the future, if they don't understand the reality of what money is."
What do teachers in the East of England think?
Based on 81 teachers surveyed by MAPS:
99% think it’s important that schools teacher their students about money.
When do you think it should start? Nursery/pre-school (21%), Primary ages 5-7 (50%), primary ages 8-11 (17%), secondary ages 11-16 (11%), sixth form/college (2%), don’t need to (1%)
77% think most young people leave school/college without the money skills they need for adulthood.
Main reasons why this is happening: other subjects take priority (91%), teachers don’t know where to find the right resources/support (29%), not enough confidence and skills among teaching staff (23%).
What's the Government said on this?
The Department for Education say financial knowledge is already a compulsory part of the national curriculum for those aged between 5 and 16- in Maths and Citizenship.