Yesterday I learned about a new financial education textbook, funded by Martin Lewis, the founder of MoneySavingExpert.com.
“Your Money Matters,” it says on that website, “is the first-ever curriculum-mapped financial education textbook, is aimed at students aged 15 to 16, and will teach them about topics such as savings, budgeting, borrowing, student loans and identity theft.”
One hundred copies of the book – which you can download, free, here – will be distributed to every state-funded secondary school in England at a cost of £325,000, which was donated by Martin Lewis himself.
Listening to the full story on the radio, I learned that financial education has been on the national curriculum in England since September 2014 following a long campaign and a petition on the issue in 2011, which was signed by more than 118,000 people and led to a debate in Parliament on the subject.
I could’ve done with financial education when I was at school (for years later, between 1993 and 2010, I lived in the red).
Financial education forms part of citizenship for 11-16-year-olds and maths for 5-14-year-olds, and is taught in all ‘maintained’ schools in England which must follow the curriculum. Some schools don’t follow it, so financial education isn’t compulsory for all, but it’s a huge achievement
“A high-quality citizenship education helps to provide pupils with knowledge, skills and understanding to prepare them to play a full and active part in society.” – Department for Education
The news has given me food for thought: maybe citizenship education is where inted could sit, too.
