More education about debt needed
Published On 13 July 2007
Unless the government does more to encourage financial education in schools, young people could find themselves in serious debt and use things like IVAs in the future, an industry expert has warned.Earlier in the week (July 11th), the government and QCA set out reforms on secondary education which included plans to make 'economic well being' a new part of the Personal Social Health Education (PSHE) curriculum.
However, the ifs School of Finance said that the reforms did not go far enough as most of them had already been announced earlier in the year.
It added that many schools do not teach PSHE as it is not examinable and explained that creating a recognised qualification for pupils who had learnt about personal finance would do more to reduce the chance that these young people would end up in debt.
"Standalone qualifications in personal finance have been independently proven to make a positive difference to the way in which young people make financial decisions," explained Gavin Shreeve, the chief executive at the ifs School of Finance.
"This is why we are calling on government to introduce a standalone subject in Personal Finance so that all students have the opportunity to gain what is an increasingly crucial life skill."
Recent figures suggest that personal debt in the UK exceeded £1.3 trillion in May, and that more people could need debt management tools like IVAs as a result.
