Incorporate financial literacy in early childhood education

Early childhood educators in Jamaica must inculcate the necessary financial acumen in their classrooms to our bright young minds immediately, in order to avoid further deteriorations in the nation’s capital management and ensure the long-term success of Jamaica’s financial future.

During a child’s first five years, their cognitive and behavioural development is rapid and paramount, and thus at this crucial stage they will have ingrained ideologies that will follow them throughout their lifetime. Children learn best through the process of modelling or observational learning, in which they mimic the actions and behaviours of adults in the home or school through observation.

URGENCY

As stated by the World Economic Forum, the World Bank had to slash its 2023 growth forecasts due a looming and precedented recession and expects a global gross domestic product (GDP) of 1.7 per cent, the slowest rate since the 2009 and 2020 recessions. Jeffrey Frankel, professor of capital formation and growth at Harvard University, in his 2022 article, ‘Is a global recession really around the corner?’, predicts that there is a likely global recession on the horizon in 2023, especially due to the events stemming from the Ukrainian-Russian war, a prelude to a horrendous increase in energy costs across Europe.

He further reinforced his claim with the observation of sharp, rapid interest hikes by the US reserve and central banks across The United States of America (USA), which raised the probability of the next recession to 50 per cent and a 75 per cent chance of it happening between 2023-2025. Implementing a mandatory programme of financial literacy from grade-three level and immediately. The students will be introduced to rudimentary concepts on monetary value, debt, assets, liabilities, and the associated risks and ramifications. In the later grades, students are then tested on what they have learned in theory and in practice under supervision, to which they must reach a satisfactory level.

PAGE FROM SINGAPORE’S BOOK

Since Jamaica’s economy is delicately intertwined with The United States (US), it would mean a laborious and turbulent journey to recovery for us if the US economy were to suddenly collapse. Implementing this mandatory programme will initially incur overheads in the form of labour hours, utilities, resources, and possible expansion of infrastructure and technology in our current primary and preparatory schools, and while it is an expensive venture at first, making these investments will work out better for every citizen long term.

Let’s examine Singapore which had similar economic strength as Jamaica 50 years ago. According to Ahram Lim in his article, ‘Seven financial literacy statistics in Singapore: survey findings’, 55.2 per cent of the citizens are financial illiterate, and the rate of financial literacy is lowest in the age group 18-24 years. Singapore has mandated financial literacy to be taught from the primary school level to university, through their Ministry of Education. With that said, why can’t we as a country push just as hard to dish out financial literacy as the next chapter in educational development?

INTENTIONAL INVESTMENT FROM OUR PARENTS

Oh, and let’s not forget the role of the parents in this vision. If anything, parents should exercise due diligence the most in teaching their children early about money. The drawback comes in if the parents are not financially literate themselves, and thus it would be prudent as the leaders of the household be refreshed or be trained on how finances are managed. Having the privilege of being taught from my early years about money from my parents and relatives, has substantiated in how I was able to survive today post COVID-19, especially when the job market was severely affected. Nevertheless, this should be a concerted effort from the school, parents, and the Jamaican government to ensure strategic success for ten generations down the line.

BENEFITS

Ama Mazotta of the California Business Journal, in her article, ‘Why is financial literacy important for children to learn?’, listed some of the benefits, which include but not limited to children appreciating the value of money, understanding the gravitas of financial risks better, and the strong probability of living happy, stress-free lives in adulthood.

These benefits will sprout fruitfully once done consistently and in no time we will have fiscally responsible citizens, being able to plan, decipher, and monitor financial practices in their homes. Furthermore, this new financially literate generation will be able to become their own bosses and revolutionary leaders, in a society indoctrinated with advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence and power business intelligence. All things being equal, my recommendation is to fuse financial literacy with the numeracy test at the grade-four level, and its incorporation into the Primary Exit Profile, if approved by the Ministry of Education and Youth.

Having a nation of financial literate citizens can lead to improved decision-making, development of structured accountability, and a refinement in the value stream for the flow of goods and services. Proverbs chapter 13 verse 22 explains that a good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children, and thus parents can kickstart this initiative by opening a long-term bank account for life savings, and conjure up fun activities that are easily digestible for children to grasp financial literacy. Let’s hearken to the idea of making financial literacy mandatory in primary, preparatory, and possibly junior high school.

Dujean Edwards is an adjunct lecturer at UCC. Send feedback to dujeanedwards@gmail.com