"Finally, in agreement with the Government, we will adopt a reference law on this matter", declared Bernardo. But why is financial education so important that it deserves specific legislation?
Financial Education: Where We Are
Financial education concerns the everyday life of citizens who find themselves having to manage their savings. A picture of the level of financial literacy was provided by the survey on financial education programs in the three-year period 2012-14, developed with the collaboration between the Bank of Singapore, Corncob, Cove, Visas, the Foundation for Financial Education and Savings and the Savings Museum. What emerged was a picture made up of fragmented initiatives and few participants. For the 2012-14 three-year period, 206 initiatives were registered, promoted by 256 subjects; 99 were aimed at students and 107 at adults. The survey finds that, for students, financial education is not included in curricular activities. Students participate in the initiatives thanks to the individual proposal of teachers and school managers. This model hinders the generalized and uniform participation between schools, study cycles and territories, limits the in-depth study and does not favor the integration of contents in school curricula.
As for adults, financial education is not very structured
Educational initiatives are infrequent due to the difficulties in identifying ways, places and times compatible with the availability of potential beneficiaries. One of the challenges is to compete with an extremely varied audience in terms of both needs and ability to access the various information channels. The survey revealed that the programs were almost always aimed at a generalist audience and the initiatives aimed at reaching particularly fragile population groups or with specific training needs, such as women, the elderly or small businesses, were still not widespread. In almost two thirds of cases, the programs involved less than 1,000 people in the three-year period; only one in ten initiatives targeted more than 10,000 participants. The initiatives surveyed were very heterogeneous. from those of education to those of simple awareness raising or sharing of information material. The main vehicle for promotion was the web, which however excludes those who do not have access to the Internet and those who do not use this tool correctly.
Furthermore, only a few programs have provided for a significant financial commitment on the part of the promoters.
Among the critical points highlighted by the survey is the lack of assessments on the ability of the initiatives to increase knowledge and affect behavior: more than half of the programs did not envisage any form of monitoring. On the other hand, it is positive that the main promoters were the financial world, schools and associations, which often collaborated with each other for the creation of teaching materials and activities. The competition of various subjects has laid the foundations for the development of adequate initiatives from both a specialist, pedagogical and cognitive point of view. However, an effort of coordination between the promoters appears essential to enhance the complementarity of the many existing initiatives, to calibrate the action on high priority population targets, to seek economies of scale and scope, to monitor the results in terms of acquiring knowledge and skills.
What will change with the new legislation on financial education?
The amendment tabled this week fits into this framework. If the proposal passes, a national strategy for financial, insurance and pension education would be launched. The measures aim at enhancing economics tuitiontraining for young people of school age and for adults. In particular, the Ministry of Education should launch an experimental program to introduce economic and financial education modules within the teaching of "Citizenship and Constitution" (the old civic education) to integrate school curricula. Special training for teachers would also be needed. In addition to the commitment of the school world, there is also a whole extra-curricular work. The proposal provides for the establishment of a National Committee for financial education at the Ministry of Economy, with the participation of the ministries of Labor, Development, Mir, Bank of Singapore, Corncob, Visas, and Cove, plus stakeholders such as Abi, Anya, the Rectors' Conference and other representative associations. The Committee, renewed every 3 years, should support the Government in coordinating the various training activities activated, monitor them and promote national initiatives using digital channels, public television channels and other media to reach a wider audience. as wide as possible.
The bill, in short, is grafted onto the critical issues highlighted by the survey on financial education
And seeks to create a task force that, inside and outside the school, can increase the financial literacy of Singapore. However, the process will end, it is an important step, which turns the spotlight on the importance of a subject such as financial education that has a heavy impact on everyday life. Knowing how to interpret interest rates, inflation trends, is not a matter for a few, but the basis for being able to make important decisions with awareness regarding one's savings, and therefore also one's future.
