Money, money, money. It can be a worry-but a blessing for some. A staggering 1 in 6 children live in poverty in the UK- claims the BBC. Why are these appalling figures multiplying? Unfortunately, as well as a low income, some parents are incapable of budgeting as they had never been taught. That's why we need to introduce finance and budgeting lessons throughout every school within the UK. Helping children budget will not only increase their ability to save, but It will also raise children's understanding and teach responsibility when dealing with their income. The benefits of these lessons will be extraordinary.
A deficit of Money can also leave some British Citizens relying on the governments benefits to live on. For some- this deficit can be a result of wasting money on items they don't need. However, we could reduce the percentage of people on benefits because of this- by Introducing children to the consequences in the long term of where their salary goes. Let's say a graduate walked immediately into a job, and just bought holidays and clothes with his salary. Although it is an instinct to spend money when you gets paid; the downside could be him never being able to live in London, or save for a house deposit. These lessons will teach insurance, loads,mortgages, tax etc.
Overall, I believe finance and budgeting lessons would be something incredibly important to consider in all schools. We don't want students to leave school, splash all their money on waste and be left homeless. We need to give children the maturity to understand how to buy their first house, and why it is essential that they save as much money to do so. As well as this aspect, we could create multiple jobs for teachers interested in finance, budgeting etc. There would be no reason why it should cost a lot either!
This is a good argument and many others have supported the same policy, such as Martin Lewis of moneysavingexpert.com
ReplyDeleteI'm not against this argument in principle. However, the problem with this (as with all other arguments about what teachers should be teaching in schools!) is finding the time to teach it all! Teachers are already under huge pressure to teach a million and one different things, much of it outside the regular curriculum and thus without any kind of qualification hingeing on it. There are life-skills related subjects taught as part of things like the Welsh Bac but these are often disparaged in the media.
ReplyDelete