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Starting in September, 2011, Ontario students from grade four to 12 will learn how to better manage their money in courses that will be integrated into their overall school curriculum in an effort to improve financial smarts.
Ontario Education Minister Kathleen Wynne and federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty made the announcement in Toronto at the Monday launch of the third annual Credit Education Week, a national event geared towards helping Canadians polish their financial management skills.
"The global economic challenges of the last year have highlighted the need to ensure a financially literate population," Ms. Wynne said in a statement.
Mr. Flaherty's last federal budget included the establishment of an independent task force to make recommendations on financial literacy, something people in the financial industry believe is key towards improving national awareness in this area. Many believe the problems start with our education system, which they say fails to teach young Canadians how to manage their money.
Casey Cosgrove, the director of the Canadian Centre for Financial Literacy, applauded the Ontario government's move as a step in the right direction. "The province had done very little on this front so to see them jump to an announcement like this is great."
He believes the minister's stated approach of incorporating financial literacy and money management skills into a variety of subjects is the right way to go.
"Talk of integrating it, and not just building one course, that is good," Mr. Cosgrove said, although he cautioned that the learning must continue outside of schools, too. "I think it also needs to be taught at home and in community centres, but having it in schools is a great start."
A working group co-chaired by parliamentary assistant Leeanna Pendergast will provide a report to the ministry's curriculum council by next summer with suggestions on how to integrate the new financial literacy material into the existing learning plan.
The working group will research and pinpoint how to identify the core financial concepts that constitute financial literacy, develop a list of financial literacy concepts and skills and provide advice on how to integrate the list into the existing curriculum. Personal finance topics are currently addressed in Ontario grade nine to 12 courses such as business studies, mathematics, guidance and career education, social sciences and humanities.
The provincial education ministry will also work in partnership with the Investor Education Fund to develop resources and professional development opportunities for teachers.
Roma Luciw is a writer and web editor of the Globeinvestor.com personal finance site. Please send any comments and story ideas to rluciw@globeandmail.ca.