The Personal Finance Society (PFS) is to launch a nationwide pro-bono financial education programme.
The objective is to establish an active link with every secondary school and college of further education in the country.
After two days after being initially announced to members, more than 250 advisers have registered an interest in becoming a volunteer trainer.
“Our ‘Education Champions’ initiative will provide important and complementary financial education for tomorrow’s generation,” said PFS chief executive, Keith Richards, “and we hope it will ultimately become a key part of the national curriculum.
“Based on the society’s existing ‘Discover Fortunes’ schools initiative, which uses gamification to demonstrate key financial scenarios, it will additionally help to raise the profile of a career as a personal finance professional to rank alongside other professionals such as accountants and solicitors.
“We are seeking to evolve the purpose and role of the discover fortunes programme by calling on our 38,000 members to become PFS education champions, thereby providing additional momentum to support other initiatives run by government and the Money Advice Service (MAS).
“As well as the pro-bono programme itself improving financial education for the next generation, our education champions will be a key contact point for schools to provide guidance on financial matters and support teachers more broadly,” he continued.
“We know that a number of our members have been informally involved over the years with their local schools through career fairs and liaison with sixth form students to explain about the financial planning sector and the potential it offers as a career.
“This new pro-bono programme is a natural progression for what they have been doing on their own initiative and I am confident it will be welcomed by many more as a great way to give a little something back to their local community, help prepare young people for the world of money and raise the profile of financial planning.”
Volunteer recruitment began on 1 May and training will take place throughout the summer. The scheme itself will then be launched in September, to coincide with the start of the new academic year.
Full details and how to register can be found here: http://www.thepfs.org/membership/future-professionals/education-champions/
“Last October’s ‘Financial Lives’ survey, conducted by the FCA, drew renewed attention to the need for financial education to take its place on the agenda at schools, alongside the core personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) subjects,” Richards said.
“It revealed that 4.1 million people have failed to pay bills or credit commitments in three or more of the last six months, 3.5 million are borrowing from friends and family to make ends meet and only just over a third (35 per cent) of those aged 45-54 have prepared for retirement.
“One of the contributory factors behind such deficiencies is a lack of understanding about budgeting, saving, investing and making financial plans. Being good with money is not only about numeracy, but about behaviours and attitudes which are instilled at a young age.
“Our new Education Champions programme is a major step towards redressing the balance and raising the importance of personal finance management and planning – not only as a vital life skill, but also as a worthwhile and rewarding career.”