Is it time teachers were taught financial lessons?
For many years, there have been calls for more practical lessons in maths classrooms that teach British pupils more about financial matters and budgeting issues that can help them out in later life, but a new study has shown that many teachers would struggle to teach such a subject matter.
According to a new study from Shares4Schools, as many as 53 per cent of teachers admit that they would not be fully confident when it came to teaching their pupils about financial matters.
In addition to this, a third of those who were surveyed said that they struggle with financial questions themselves, showing that if this was to become a preferred subject in schools, more would need to be done to educate teachers themselves in order to make sure lessons were useful.
Gavin Oldham, Chairman of The Share Centre, said: "While the inclusion of financial education on the curriculum is a huge step forward, it's clear many teachers still lack the confidence to explain basic personal finance issues. This means pupils may head into the world of work, bills and responsibility unprepared. Clearly there is a knowledge gap that needs to be addressed."
According to the survey, only 17 per cent of teachers would feel comfortable explaining to a pupil what the stock market is, while 28 per cent could explain a pension scheme to them.
However, when it comes to things like debit cards and credit cards, teachers are more well versed, with 64 per cent and 61 per cent saying they could teach this subject matter. In mortgages, investment and taxes, a little under 50 per cent would be able to teach a class.
So there is a degree of skills there when it comes to financial lessons in the classroom, but what can be done to enhance this even more? Shares4Schools said that there are agencies around the UK that can help teachers to become more au fait with how to teach financial lessons. It said that approaching the matter in a fun and interactive way is a good strategy for not only engaging pupils, but also putting teachers more at ease with this sort of lesson.
