Most education today, and this is true at all levels, focuses on giving learners skills and competencies that will at some stage in their lives make them employable. The purpose is obvious: employable people get jobs and earn money for themselves and their families. The end goal is on creating the ability to earn money, what is often missed is that this is not coupled with the ability to manage money.Financial planning is missing, which is because basic financial literacy is missing in the education system.
Ideally all learners, regardless of what they are studying, should be provided financial literacy so that they can manage their money effectively. This financial literacy education should be introduced in secondary education and further built on in higher education. Just like languages are compulsory subjects to clear secondary education examinations, so should financial literacy. This does not have to be complex but covers basic necessities like what to do with savings, how to raise money when needed, insurance for managing risks arising from future uncertainty, etc. All of these are the core ingredients for financial planning that ensures that people are able to take care of future monetary requirements that could be either planned or coming out of unplanned eventualities. This is important for sound financial health, which is as important as sound physical health, and these two often go hand in hand.
The onus is on policy makers responsible for education curriculum to assess the requirement and propose the relevant interventions. This could potentially fit in very well with the National Education Policy (NEP). The NEP is a very well thought out and flexible policy from a learner’s perspective with a focus on continuous learning based on progressive needs.
Financial literacy will integrate very well in this policy as it is a core learning need that, from a life journey perspective, amplifies the benefits for the learner by complementing the other learnings targeted by them based on their career aspirations. This definitely warrants very serious consideration and deliberation so that appropriate curriculum interventions can be planned and implemented effectively. This is no longer a luxury but an imperative if the objective is to have the economy grow aggressively as financially healthy citizens will be in a position to fuel consumption driven growth of the economy. The benefits of introducing financial literacy in education curriculum on citizen’s financial health will of course be seen several years down the road but like all desired good future outcomes, the seeds must be sown now.
Author is the Director General, International Management Institute (IMI).
Ideally all learners, regardless of what they are studying, should be provided financial literacy so that they can manage their money effectively. This financial literacy education should be introduced in secondary education and further built on in higher education. Just like languages are compulsory subjects to clear secondary education examinations, so should financial literacy. This does not have to be complex but covers basic necessities like what to do with savings, how to raise money when needed, insurance for managing risks arising from future uncertainty, etc. All of these are the core ingredients for financial planning that ensures that people are able to take care of future monetary requirements that could be either planned or coming out of unplanned eventualities. This is important for sound financial health, which is as important as sound physical health, and these two often go hand in hand.
The onus is on policy makers responsible for education curriculum to assess the requirement and propose the relevant interventions. This could potentially fit in very well with the National Education Policy (NEP). The NEP is a very well thought out and flexible policy from a learner’s perspective with a focus on continuous learning based on progressive needs.
Financial literacy will integrate very well in this policy as it is a core learning need that, from a life journey perspective, amplifies the benefits for the learner by complementing the other learnings targeted by them based on their career aspirations. This definitely warrants very serious consideration and deliberation so that appropriate curriculum interventions can be planned and implemented effectively. This is no longer a luxury but an imperative if the objective is to have the economy grow aggressively as financially healthy citizens will be in a position to fuel consumption driven growth of the economy. The benefits of introducing financial literacy in education curriculum on citizen’s financial health will of course be seen several years down the road but like all desired good future outcomes, the seeds must be sown now.
Author is the Director General, International Management Institute (IMI).
