A NEW resource pack introducing pupils to personal finance has been criticised by heads as technical and irrelevant.
The Financial Services Authority pack - aimed at 14 to 19-year-olds - proposes to “equip young people with the confidence and knowledge they need to take responsibility for their financial affairs”.
It provides information in five areas; saving for retirement; risk assessment of credit and debt; insurance and the implications of genetic testing; ethical investing; and the pros and cons of buying goods over the Internet.
But some heads are concerned that the pack is not relevant to young people’s needs.
Kate Webster, head at Queen Elizabeth’s girls’ in the London borough of Barnet, said: “The areas covered seem too technical for 14 to 19-year-olds. Very few teenagers care about their retirement or worry about insurance.”
She suggested that the pack should look at issues pupils would be most concerned about. “Personal finance lessons should be more current, such as how to manage money at university or having a bank account.”
The pack is for use in personal, health and social education lessons. But Alan Davison, head of Mill Hill high in London, said teachers did not have the time to cover such issues in a crowded curriculum.
