Government action “wholly inadequate”, says ifs

Anne Kiem, head of wider financial learning at the school, claims that plans to introduce financial education in schools needs to be improved and called for it to become a separate subject.

“Plans to make financial education part of the national curriculum from 2008, although well intentioned, are wholly inadequate,” declared Ms Kiem.

“If the government are serious about getting to grips with this issue, financial education must be a standalone subject in secondary schools.”

Her comments come in response to the government’s publication of its over-indebtedness report in which it said it wants to include financial education as part of GCSE maths.

Yet Ms Kiem said that proposals would work out at only 7.5 hours of personal finance education over two years, which she believes is insufficient in light of growing debt problems.

Instead, she points to Manchester University research which indicates that stand-alone courses in personal finance “positively alters” the way individuals save and tackle debt.