Financial Education to help beat the credit crunch
FINANCE experts will meet teachers in Edinburgh today for a major conference on financial education in Scottish schools.
Learning and Teaching Scotland, in partnership with Prudential, is bringing together government, education and the financial services sector to examine how teachers and schools can be further supported in delivering a high quality financial education for all young people in line with Curriculum for Excellence. This aims to help young people deal with money matters when they go on to work, college, or university and help tackle financial mismanagement which is a symptom and cause of exclusion and poverty.
Scotland was the first country in the UK to publish curriculum guidelines for schools, leading the way in equipping children and young people with the financial skills needed for modern day life.
In the current financial climate it’s apparent just how important it is to develop finance capability in our young people from an early age and reduce the chances of them running into problems later on in life.
LTS’s Scottish Centre for Financial Education works with industry bodies to support local authorities, schools and teachers and produce high quality, free resources for schools.
Maureen Watt, Minister for Schools and Skills will open the conference at Murrayfield on December 4th. Chris Pond, Director of Financial Capability at the Financial Services Authority and Nick Prettejohn, Chief Executive for Prudential UK and Europe, will both give keynote speeches on the how the finance sector can support schools in delivering high quality financial education in times of economic uncertainty.
Jim Lally, Director of LTS’s Scottish Centre for Financial Education, said: ‘The current economic climate shows just how important good financial education is. We need to develop our next generations’ skills and confidence to think about finance and manage money from an early age.
‘Social, economic and political changes over the last 20 years mean developing financial capability is an essential life skill for all and by educating children and young people we can help them make informed decisions later on in life.
‘Our co-ordinating role and partnership with the finance industry has helped Scotland lead the way in this field but there is much more to be done and this conference will help teachers and local authorities think about how they develop a planned, coherent programme in their schools.’
Conference sponsor Prudential is one of several financial sector companies that work with the SCFE to develop and distribute high quality resources for use in schools.
Nick Prettejohn, Chief Executive of Prudential UK and Europe said: ‘For the majority of today's pupils the current difficulties in the economy will be the first they have witnessed. Providing them with a comprehensive financial education is an imperative and I am very pleased that Prudential is again supporting a conference that looks in-depth at how this can be delivered.’
Education professionals from across all 32 local authorities will attend the conference. The programme for the day includes workshops focusing on Curriculum for Excellence, case studies in primary, secondary and the special needs sector and a UK wide perspective from the FSA. Personal Finance Education Group (pfeg)) and the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment Northern Ireland.
ENDS.
For further information please contact:
Lee-Ann Fullerton, Press Officer
T: 0141 282 5036 M: 07973512453
Learning and Teaching Scotland
The Optima, 58 Robertson Street, Glasgow, G2 8DU
www.LTScotland.org.uk
Notes for Editors:
1. LTS is the body responsible for the development and support of the curriculum in Scotland including exploring, promoting and developing new technology in education.
2. LTS’s Scottish Centre for Financial Education works with the Financial Services Authority, Prudential, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Life, Clydesdale Bank and Stirling Park to deliver high quality financial education to local authorities, schools, teachers and pupils.