The new report from Prudential on their Cha-Ching programme makes gloomy reading regarding the lack of momentum behind meaningful and permanent financial education programmes in the educational syllabus.

As a previous Non Executive Director/Trustee of Credit Action ( now Money Charity ) I am dismayed that financial education still lacks a political leader with the political will to place this subject in a permanent place within the educational pecking order.  I am pleased that Julian Knight MP has shown that the topic needs discussing and addressing, and I hope that there is a coalition of the willing to deal with the cause, rather than just stirring the symptoms yet again.

Charities such as Money Charity and others have played a marvellous role in supporting the Financial Education, but their great work should be underpinning a national curriculum in schools on financial education.

It is rather disturbing to see how much money is poured into the FCA to regulate the financial markets, compared the small amount of effort and money into financial education. Research shows that consumers mostly do not read T & C’s, and maybe do not understand them, and as regulation increases T & C’s get longer.

Basic mathematics, like financial education is a building block for life. Sometimes we need to stand back from a problem and take a fresh look, with financial education that time is now. The old Chinese Proverb rings true:

Greg Stevens

CEO

11th April 2018