The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) has welcomed the Government’s Budget announcement raising the funding for maths in schools and teacher training and urges Ministers to continue their emphasis on financial literacy.
Simon Culhane, Chartered FCSI, CISI CEO said: “The understanding of maths is at the core of financial literacy education and the extra funding payment to train maths teachers across the UK is a key initiative in efforts to improve this. Highly skilled and trained maths teachers are crucial to imparting confidence to students, of all ages, when working with numbers at any point in their lives.
“Our YouGov survey in 2015 on gambling raised a number of issues, including education in respect of financial literacy, particularly linked to betting and gambling. We suggested then that existing financial literacy education should incorporate more about risks associated with gambling and the concept of probability. Our survey showed that although probability is on the National Curriculum students are struggling to apply this learning in real life to gambling.
“Back in 2012 we published our first edition of our book #yourmoney, aimed at 18-25 year olds but also accessible for the wider population, to navigate the often scary world of personal finance.
“This resource offers a refreshing overview of personal finance for young and old and was updated for 2017/2018. Our #yourmoney book was distributed by the Stewart Ivory Financial Educational Programme to some 15,000 school leavers in over 200 schools across Scotland. This was shortly followed by development of our #yourmoney app, which unlocks various timed personal finance challenges at different levels.
“In addition our Guernsey branch sponsored the distribution of our #yourmoney book to all 18 year olds on the island. To further these initiatives our Educational Trust recently sponsored 4,000 of these books to be distributed to schools within our existing network and also to our branch committees.”
Elizabeth Rowan, CISI Educational Development Manager said: “With student loans being a concern for those attending university, a good grasp of maths and understanding of financial literacy for young people is more important than ever. Therefore the Government’s initiative on maths funding recognises that numeracy skills are key if the UK is to build a strong and globally competitive economy.
“The MyBnk KickStart Money project, managed by the Tax Incentivised Savings Association (TISA) which aims to boost personal finance education in primary schools, is a fantastic initiative to help catch young brains early and embed a life-long love of numbers and money management.”