SINGAPORE – Financial advisers are welcome to devise programmes that can be shared with schools to teach students financial literacy, Minister for Education Chan Chun Sing said on Thursday at a conference of financial professionals.
Replying to a question about the state of financial literacy in Singapore and if schools should be teaching it, Mr Chan agreed that a grasp of financial planning needs to start at a much earlier stage in schools, especially with a population that is rapidly ageing. Demographic change has implications for retirement planning, as well as for the economy as a whole, given the shrinking workforce.
Financial literacy is taught in schools, but is not an examinable subject.
“It is not our intention to set PSLE (Primary School Leaving Examination) questions on financial planning,” said the minister, to laughter from the audience.
Instead, he invited the financial advisers in the audience at the Association of Financial Advisers (Singapore) Annual Conference 2023 to lend their expertise to schools.
“For the cynical, see this as growing your pipeline of future clients,” he quipped.
On a more serious note, he said: “We’re humble enough to know that our teachers cannot be experts in every domain. I need your help. If you like to do some community work, come and join us. You can volunteer and join a school advisory committee or start up a co-curricular activity.”
He added that there are similar initiatives in place, where professionals from certain industries adopt a school and set up unique, distinctive applied learning programmes.
“You, or a group of you, can go into our schools and work with us to get this concept of financial planning into the students’ lives at an early age, not just those from vulnerable backgrounds but a broad swathe of them.
“Financial planning is a discipline of the mind. If the children can learn this, it can help them in many other ways further down the road,” he said.
Mr Chan added: “Very often, we find that people do financial planning too little too late. This is not what we want.”
He said other avenues for financial advisers to contribute to the community include parent support groups, which go to schools to conduct activities.
In another Ministry of Education programme, A World Beyond School, schools invite professionals to share with both students and their parents the challenges and opportunities within their industry. “Very often, it is more important to reach the parents because they can be role models for their kids,” he said.
The two-day conference is being attended by almost 350 guests, including partners such as life and general insurers, as well as investment and fund houses, some of which had helped sponsor the event.
