North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson has welcomed the continued success of financial education on the curriculum during a debate in Parliament.
The comments came during the Second Reading of the Financial Guidance & Small Claims, a Government Bill which will improve access to support for people in need of debt advice, improve financial education, and provide breathing space to people in debt.
Justin led a hard-fought campaign in Parliament, fending off more than 100 other subjects to be added to the curriculum in 2013. As part of this, Justin worked alongside Carol Vorderman and MoneySavingExpert's Martin Lewis to form the largest All Party Parliamentary Group in history.
By the time young people reach secondary school, they have already been exposed to hundreds of scenarios where a basic level of financial education would assist them in making savvy decisions.
In primary school mathematics, money is used as a unit of measurement in problem-solving, and when students are introduced to statistics in Key Stage 2 teachers will introduce financial concepts to children. In English, financial vocabulary is taught in spelling, with pupils to learn the word and the meaning of words such as 'money', 'finance', 'commercial' and 'coin'.
At secondary school, finance is now taught in mathematics through problem solving, ratio, proportion and rates of change. In addition, understanding of probability, notions of risk and uncertainty, are taught through the use of financial examples. In Citizenship, 11 – 16 year olds learn the functions & uses of money, the importance and practice of budgeting, credit & debit, insurance, savings & pensions and how public money is raised & spent. In maths, there is a renewed emphasis on financial mathematics in measures and problem-solving from primary school age onwards.
Text of Justin's intervention:
Justin Tomlinson: At the time, I was chair of the all-party parliamentary group on financial education for young people, and I was very grateful for my hon. Friend’s support in that campaign. I echo her comments. We live in a very complex society, with direct debits, standing orders and complicated marketing messages coming forward. Making sure that we equip all people of all ages to make informed decisions is an absolute priority
Michelle Donelan: I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. I completely agree with his comments and commend him for the work that he did in this area.
