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Financial literacy among the youth has been an underrated concept for a long time
Financial literacy among the youth has been an underrated concept for a long time. Parents want their children to handle their finances better. But that is only possible when the youth learn about money matters at an early age. So, on World Literacy Day (September 8), we talk to experts and youngsters about the need for financial literacy.
“Due to lack of even basic financial literacy, youngsters face many difficulties when they start handling their own money. Many even face the risk of financial distress in the form of high debts, bad credit scores, and no savings. And now, with NFTs and cryptocurrency on the scene, it has become crucial to teach finance at a young age,” says Sudeep Thakur, an economics lecturer.
“Name one school that teaches kids something as basic as how to deposit money in the bank or open a bank account. I strongly believe that basic finance studies need to be incorporated into the school curriculums because that is the most impressionable age. If we start learning to manage our finances at that age, it’ll easily become a way of life,” says Aastha Sharma, a business management student.
“Most parents these days push their children to start saving up only after the latter start earning. But if they start early, like earlier, our parents used to give us piggy banks and we would save whatever money we got from them or our relatives in it. We would only break it, once it was full. That was a simple and good way to inculcate the habit,” says Niddhi Razdan, a primary school mathematics teacher.
“The pandemic was an eye-opener. We saw youths face financial crises after getting fired due to Covid. So, quite clearly, there’s a need to introduce lessons on finance at the classroom level. The foundation needs to be laid in the form of games and puzzles to make it interesting for the young minds,” says Damanpreet Singh, a banker.
“A SEBI report states that just 27% of the country’s population is financially literate. These figures say it all. We need to empower the youth to manage their finances and teach them to start saving and investing in a sustainable way. They need to be made aware of its importance for a secure and relaxed future for their families,” he adds.
“In this day and age, financial literacy is a must. And we need to understand that It is a continuous process. So parents should start encouraging their wards to save money in piggy banks. Schools need to teach them about secure investments such as the Public Provident Fund (PPF), recurring deposits, equities, etc. The lack of chapters on these necessary subjects in the school curriculums is a big part of the problem and needs to be addressed on an urgent basis,” says CA Vineet Bhatti.
