Some 80% of primary school teachers in England and Wales want to see financial education placed on the school curriculum and 69% also believe schools should be working with parents to help children understand money.
Some 80% of primary school teachers in England and Wales want to see financial education placed on the school curriculum and 69% also believe schools should be working with parents to help children understand money.
The findings from come from Prudential who has developed the Cha-Ching education website, providing teachers with financial education resources.
At the meeting, chaired byJulian Knight MP, the results were shared and MPs were looking at how financial education can improve social mobility and the importance of early intervention.
Jane Rawnsley, head of Prudential’s Cha-Ching financial education programme, said:“Financial education in primary schools is just not adding up.
“We know that financial habits are learned early and teachers agree. That’s why they’re calling for financial education to be part of the curriculum in primary schools.
“Getting children comfortable with the concept of money, its value and the cost of day-to-day items has never been more important.
“But digital technology making it easier to pay for things is making money appear more intangible than ever before. The basics of earning, spending and saving should to be instilled in children from as early an age as possible and teachers recognise this.
“For financial education to be successful, parents and teachers need to work together and online resources such as Cha-Ching’s primary schools programme are aimed squarely at supporting them with this valuable life skill.”
About 67% of teachers say children’s mental arithmetic skills are suffering because of the reliance in our society on cards and not cash to pay for daily purchases.
Some 81% of teachers said 7-11 year olds do not know enough for their age group about money and personal finance. Just one in eight (13%) think this age group have a good enough understanding about money and personal finance.
Currently, money matters are taught infrequently in primary schools, with the majority doing so a few times a term and just a fifth (21%) teaching children weekly about money.
While three quarters (75%) of teachers are comfortable enough to teach children about money, one in nine (11%) believed they don’t know enough about money and financial services to teach the subject.
