Financial education 'is a lifelong process'
Published On 14 July 2007
As more and more people find themselves in serious debt and in need of tools like IVAs, it is vital financial education continues beyond school, an industry expert has warned.Earlier this week, the government announced that it was adding a financial element to the curriculum which secondary school student cover in personal, social and health education (PSHE).
However, some industry bodies have already criticised the policy. The ifs School of Finance said that the measures did not go far enough and would do little to improve debt problems in the country.
Now, David Kuo, head of personal finance at Fool.co.uk, has added his opinion, saying that financial education should be extended beyond the classroom to help adults struggling with debt.
"Personal financial education should not end at the school gates," he explained.
"Hopefully, the inclusion of personal finance topics in the new secondary [curriculum] will give students something to take home to talk to their parents about other than their end-of-term report cards.
"Understanding how to prepare a budget, choosing the right mortgage and how to manage credit cards should no longer be the preserve of financial experts, but instead basic life skills that everyone needs to have."
Figures from Credit Action show that person debt exceeded £1.3 trillion in May and data from the Insolvency Service showed that a record number of people took out IVAs in the first quarter of the year.
