Pupils from two Flintshire schools who are involved in a pioneering project aimed at helping young people manage their finances will pay a visit to the Senedd today and meet with Dr Brian Gibbons who is the Minister with responsibility for financial inclusion.
Students from Flint High School and Ysgol Maes Garmon will put on a drama to demonstrate the effect debt has on families. The play has been developed as part of the ‘Money Matters’ project, led by Flintshire Citizens Advice.
‘Money Matters’ was created in December 2003 as a pilot using the arts and drama to help convey the message of managing money as an essential life skill. The success of the pilot has enabled it to develop into a full time initiative, delivering sessions to 14 and 15 year olds in local secondary schools in Flintshire covering banking, saving, budgeting, affordable borrowing and where to get help in a crisis.
Dr Brian Gibbons said the project is an excellent example of how schools can improve financial literacy.
The Minister said:
It is never too early to encourage children to think about money and saving for the future. They need to understand the value of money and how to deal with banks, building societies and insurance companies to make well-informed choices.
Schools have an important role to play in ensuring that young people go out into the workplace with the skills they need to plan and manage their finances. We are determined that financial education must be part of our education system and we are implementing changes to ensure that financial literacy is embedded within the curriculum.
As well as financial education, we need to ensure consumers have access to advice if debt does become a problem. Organisations like Citizens Advice play an invaluable role in providing people with access to debt advice and debt management programmes when they need it.