GoHenry Urges The UK Government To Implement Compulsory Financial Education From Primary School
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The UK government was recently urged by GoHenry to make financial education compulsory from primary school onwards, during an event in the House of Commons last week.
GoHenry Introduces New Financial Education Plan
The request came from GoHenry — a US and UK-based financial technology firm that provides a Visa debit card and financial education app for children between the ages of 6 and 18. The company’s CEO and co-founder, Louise Hill, said that the firm’s research shows that 84% of children and teenagers have expressed interest in learning about finances in school.
Furthermore, 68% of 18-year-olds have said that they are concerned about leaving school without developing any money skills.
The company also used the event to roll out its Financial Education Manifesto, which introduced 10 recommendations for the financial education of young people. One of them was to include teaching financial education from primary school and making it compulsory in secondary school. The company also strongly suggests introducing a practical element to it, rather than leaving it on theoretical lessons.
The recommendations and urging itself come as part of GoHenry’s continuous campaign which made similar calls in January of this year and before that in October 2023.
Financial Education Needs To Be Introduced Much Earlier
Commenting on the request, Hill said that it has been a decade from the moment financial education was added to secondary school curriculums in England, and the results are not satisfactory. The program is still failing kids and teens on this front, which is why GoHenry created a new manifest, which outlines how financial education can be delivered in a simple, efficient, and effective way, according to the company’s views.
The firm wants to introduce these lessons without the need for significant public spending, overburdening teachers, or primary legislation.
Labour MP for Filton and Bradley Stoke, Claire Hazelgrove, joined the discussion, stating that GoHenry does important work in supporting young people and their development of financial literacy skills.
She also referenced the University of Cambridge and its research, which revealed that financial habits are typically formed by the age of 7. Meanwhile, formal financial education is still nothing but “a postcode lottery.”
Hazelgrove argued that financial education is introduced too late in a child’s development cycle when their habits are already developed. Data also suggests that many teachers have reported a lack of confidence, capacity, and resources to teach it.
As a result, it is clear that there is more work that needs to be done to ensure that all young people will have the same opportunities when it comes to developing their financial literacy skills, which are also foundational life skills.
