A new subject introduced in Hungarian schools: financial literacy

It is now sure that financial literacy classes are going to be obligatory from the 7th until the 10th grades, that is, in primary and secondary schools in Hungary, reports Eduline.hu. The Hungarian Ministry for National Economy shared a document on Kormany.hu which lays down the principles of introducing this subject in all schools to improve Hungarian youngsters’ financial consciousness. Here are the details.

As can be read in the document (available in its full length in Hungarian here), financial literacy classes have been present in the curriculum of only vocational schools where it has been an obligatory subject. However, the government would like to provide these classes in all schools in certain grades since basic financial knowledge is inevitable today.

The document emphasises that financial literacy classes are going to be obligatory from the 7th until the 10th grades, but it is still not decided whether financial literacy will be a individual subject or if it would be incorporated in other subjects.

Furthermore, from the 3rd to the 6th grades in primary schools, more in-depth financial knowledge is going to be provided in different subjects. For instance, as far as the issue of Mathematics is concerned, the number of exercises related to everyday financial problems are going to be increased to familiarise youngsters with them.

The government feels it urgent to help Hungarian youngsters to make conscious financial decisions, and the preparation for that should start in their childhood.

Since during our life, almost every decision we make has a direct or indirect financial consequence, it is crucial to have an in-depth knowledge and great preparedness beforehand.

In order to have well-trained teachers expert in this field, financial-economic training is also going to be introduced into Hungarian teacher-training programmes.

The education project targets Hungarian children, teachers and youngsters who are at the beginning of their careers, but pensioners and low-income groups are also among the target audience.

We really hope that the programme will reach its aim and that this would not put an extra burden on students.

Source: eduline.hu; kormany.hu