Praneeta Mahajan
Hamilton, August 25, 2023
Labour plans to make it compulsory for all schools to teach financial literacy from 2025 to address low levels of money and budgeting skills among school leavers, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and education spokesperson Jan Tinetti announced last week.
“Young people will leave school knowing how to budget, open a bank account, manage bills and save and invest their money as part of financial skills in schools programme,” Mr Hipkins said in the released statement. “We want all young New Zealanders to leave school knowing how to manage their finances. It is too important to be left to chance. Evidence tells us the current approach means too many students leave school without the necessary financial skills.”
All young people will leave school with a core knowledge of saving, budgeting, banking, borrowing, bills, taxes, KiwiSaver, mortgages and insurance. Young people look set to soon learn how to manage money as part of their schooling, after a show of bipartisan support for the idea.
Labour announced a financial literacy policy last weekend, pitching that schools would teach students financial basics if it is elected in October 2023.
Implementation through existing subjects
It would be implemented through existing subjects, like maths and social sciences at no extra cost and managed by the newly established curriculum centre at the Ministry of Education.
Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said the programme would make sure teachers had enough resources and schools would have flexibility in how they delivered it.
“This would not be an extra demand on teachers, rather it will make sure they have what they need, including access to existing programmes and partnerships and support through the newly established curriculum centre at the Ministry of Education.”
Plan to stay
The plan will get a go-ahead regardless of the election outcome though, after the National Party confirmed it supported the idea. “It will happen. It is something that we are committed to delivering,” the party’s deputy leader Nicola Willis said.
ACT leader David Seymour was supportive of the policy, saying there was “a lot of merit” in teaching children how to manage money, but remained sceptical about Labour’s true motives and what would be taught.
“Will Labour be committed to pulling off a regime like that or have they come to make financial literacy mandatory because it sounds good in focus groups 55 days before an election? The question will be does the government has a commitment to listening to experts across the community and producing a world-class curriculum or are we going to get a large dollop of localised curriculum about upholding the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi competing to prepare children to navigate the world of financial literacy.”
Mapping out the financial future
Westpac NZ General Manager of Consumer Banking and Wealth Mike Norfolk said that it is never too late or too soon for young people to start mapping out their financial future. “Of all age groups, the Millennial and Gen Z generations have the most to gain by having a sound financial strategy. We encourage them to think regularly about their savings and investment goals and use online tools and projections to check if they are on track. If they want specialised advice, they should talk to their bank or a trusted adviser,” he said.
Indian Newslink recently highlighted how improved financial literacy is enabling young New Zealanders to manage money matters with confidence and without parental or other intervention. Our recent story about the study commissioned by Massey University in conjunction with Westpac was conducted by the Centre’s Director Dr Pushpa Wood along with Associate Professor Claire Matthews, and Dr Jeffrey Stangl of Massey University also highlighted that young respondents are achieving greater awareness of financial products such as KiwiSaver and insurance policies in money management.
Please read our story about the importance of Financial literacy in youth.
Praneeta Mahajan is an Indian Newslink reporter based in Hamilton.
