RightBlueView has previously criticised our education system as being too exam focused and not teaching pupils skills they so desperately need in their life. A previous post last week expressed how positive David Cameron’s National Citizen Service would be for young people by allowing them to develop skills beyond passing exams.
This week Martin Lewis who runs the popular MoneySavingExpert website, and is regularly in the media giving advice on all money related matters, is petitioning the Government on making financial education in schools compulsory. He rightly says:
“It’s a national disgrace that in the 20 years since introducing student loans, we’ve educated our youth into debt when they go to university, but never about debt. We’re a financially illiterate nation, with millions caught by misselling, overborrowing and being ripped off.”
Like National Citizen Service this would be incredible beneficial to the country as a whole, in some respects even more so than National Citizen Service. Martin Lewis is correct when he says it is a ‘national disgrace’, it’s a fundamental flaw in our education system.
Unfortunately, the lack of financial education in our education system is symptomatic of the appalling incomplete curriculum currently failing pupils. It is a shameful fact that many young people come out of school nowadays knowing how to pass an exam in the core subjects, but have little knowledge of the political and financial systems which dominate their life so much. The education system is far too narrow and too dominated by grades, with little regard for actual teaching.
This view is not based on Party ideology, what it is based upon is the principle that giving young people a well rounded education allows them to participate fully in society, be as free as possible, and a contributor as opposed to a dependent of the state.
On top of the obvious academic subjects, schools should be preparing pupils for everyday life. Pupils should be taught about loans, interest rates, mortgages and other financial matters which are part of everyday life but are poorly understood by many. It is incomprehensible why a leading democratic country invites its people to take part in elections, yet fails to teach them about political institutions in schools. Subjects such as basic First Aid would benefit society enormously, but are ignored by the current system.
At present the education system almost entirely ignores vocational skills, leaving those that do not excel in the academic arena to be deemed failures when they may have potential in this sector. A system which actually fails some young people is totally unacceptable in 21st century Britain. Britain is in one of the worst economic crisis in living memory, and we are creating more financial dependants of the already overstretched state, simply because the education system fails to recognise and improve some skill areas.
Although not a subject in the traditional sense, discipline needs to be upheld and ingrained in pupils from an early age. Amongst the numerous reasons being cited for the disgusting behaviour by some in the recent riots, a lack of discipline in schools should resonates most strongly. Education should not just involve teaching subjects to create job opportunities for Britain’s young people, it needs to cover many more aspects. Education must shape young people into pleasant, polite and respectful adults who understand the world around them and how they make up what we call ‘Society’. It must teach the merits of hard work and how one must take pride in the work they do, it must teach morals, the rule of law and the consequences of disobeying it. Education is not just about passing exams, it is about nurturing young people into adults.
To the credit of the Coalition Government it has recognised schools need changing, but Free Schools, as good as they may be are slightly missing the point. We must look at what is taught and how it is taught in schools before we focus on something which is essentially aesthetic.
Martin Lewis’ campaign to make financial education compulsory in schools is an excellent start, but it must not stop there if we are to build as David Cameron says, ‘a better Britain’.
Of course this takes money, but most of all it takes a change in the approach to education, and a reassessment of why we educate. Investment must come in the form of money, but also mentality.
Read Martin Lewis’ arguments here on why we need financial education in our schools: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/latesttip/
Sign the petition here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/8903
RightBlueView’s post on National Citizen Service can be read here: https://rightblueview.wordpress.com/2011/08/05/national-citizen-service-benefiting-an-entire-generation/
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RightBlueView 