Schools across Scotland are being urged to educate their pupils the importance of managing their money

Schools across Scotland are being urged to educate their pupils the importance of managing their money, through a new curriculum resource.

The document in question, Financial Education, is a guide for teachers and managers, being handed out to head teachers this week, will provide any additional guidance that may be needed to incorporate financial education into the new curriculum for excellence (CfE) that aims to transform education in Scotland.

This means that, under the new curriculum, children as young as three will be educated about the best ways to manage their financial futures, as the CfE applies from the age of 3 all the way through to pupils who are 18.

The document, published by Glasgow City Council in partnership with the government body Education Scotland, is being launched in schools within the local authority’s area. The council has said that they are happy to make the guide available to any other council in Scotland, if they are asked to do so.

This new system highlights the dire importance of managing money and aims to educate children about “the pitfalls” surrounding spending more money than they can actually afford to. Among the suggested learning experiences there are tasks such as; organizing bring-and-buy sales, keeping a record of weekly finances with a spreadsheet and even things such as investigating mobile phone contracts.

One executive member for education at the council, Bailie Jean McFadden, has said that schools are an ideal place to teach the youngest members of society how they can make the best, informed, decisions when it comes to their money in the future.

Ms McFadden stated that “you are never too young to learn about the importance of money.”

“Our schools have a responsibility to develop a preventative approach to financial exclusion and we will do this in partnership with local community support agencies. The new resource is a planned and coherent programme that sets out the importance of managing money and avoiding the pitfalls of spending more than you can afford.”

Glasgow City Council has said that the economic downturn means financial education has never been as important for young people as it is now. They said that the aim is to help youngsters to become trained in the art of keeping track of their own finances, including credit cards, as well as highlighting the importance of not living beyond their own means.

Jim Lally, the director of the Scottish Centre for Financial Education, has stated that “Education Scotland has welcomed the opportunity to work with the council in supporting financial education through the publication of the new guide for teachers and managers.”