Teaching About Money in Schools – Part 2

October 30, 2008 by Brendan

News

Yesterday, we discussed Nationwide’s Money Week initiative to help teach about money in schools, however, the Nationwide is not the only financial institution to have become involved in recent years. In 2007, HSBC committed £3.4 million over a five year period to a similar project in primary schools called What Money Means, and other companies such as West Bromwich, Britannia and Coventry building societies, Natwest bank, insurers Mutual Assurance and Standard Life and GE Money, the credit card provider, have all taken part in different education projects.

However, these projects are often uncoordinated, risk duplication, risk confusing teachers and even miss areas out.

Wendy van den Hende, chief executive of charity Personal Finance Education Group (Pfeg), says:

“There is some really good work going on in some areas of the UK, but some schools are almost untouched. We must provide an end to the confusion and inconsistency that surrounds this area of the curriculum.”

Children’s Secretary, Ed Balls, has now launched a new three year £1.5 million initiative, My Money, to draw together all the current financial education initiatives in both English and Welsh schools. This project aims to co-ordinate the resources and projects with all local authorities and schools to provide a common direction.

In the years to come, this can only be good news, for CeMAP training course providers and employers, as well as mortgage advisors and the general public themselves.