Criticism of schools over financial education

Criticism of schools over financial education

Last week, the JEP revealed that there are growing concerns about young Islanders getting into financial hardship as the increasing use of credit and debit cards, contactless payments, chip and pin and online subscriptions have made it easier to spend money without keeping track.

Last year, Citizens Advice reported that 283 Islanders contacted them about financial problems, compared to 119 in 2017.

And Channel Islands Financial Ombudsman Douglas Melville warned that young people, many of whom barely use cash, were more at risk, particularly if they are from vulnerable backgrounds and their families are less able to provide financial assistance should they end up in debt.

A number of recent initiatives have been run in the Island’s schools to provide financial education by organisations such as the Jersey Financial Services Commission, Community Savings Ltd and the Jersey Consumer Council. Community Savings Ltd, which helps those unable to access mainstream banking, has helped provide money management presentations and financial advice to Key Stage 3 and 4 pupils as part of Personal, Social, Health and Education (PSHE) lessons.

But the charity’s chairman, Brian Curtis, said that he was worried at the ‘lack of uniform approach’ to the matter taken by the Education Department, with each school delivering its own version of the lessons.

‘Recent research has shown that just a single one-hour workshop can be effective in improving the financial capability of young people, and boosting their confidence in managing money,’ said Mr Curtis. ‘We have committed to developing and expanding our existing education programme as we believe financial education is a vital skill for all children and young people, but we’re not sure how successfully it’s being delivered across Jersey schools.

‘I would hope that those who aren’t engaging with us are ensuring adequate provision within their existing timetables for such an important subject.’

He added that he was also concerned about the ‘lack of time’ spent on helping young people of all ages improve their financial management.

A recent report by the UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on financial education for young people recently called for schools to better engage with charities to develop financial education lessons and workshops.

It also suggested that vulnerable children, such as care leavers or those in care, would suffer from ‘the patchy provision of financial education in schools’, as well as ‘the lack of a fixed family support network’.

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