Financial literacy will be taught as a subject at the junior and senior levels of Nigerian secondary schools before the end of year, Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN) announced yesterday as it joined the global community to commemorate global money week .
To bring the plan to fruition , the bank said it has commenced discussion with National Education Resource Centre( NERC) to make financial literacy part of curriculum of secondary schools across Nigeria .
CBN Director of Consumer Protection Department, Hajiya Umma Dutse said this yesterday in Abuja when she led CBN team on global money walk to Junior Secondary School located at Dutsen Alhaji in Federal Capital Territory(FCT) Abuja as part of the activities lined up in commemoration of global money week.
Represented by a Deputy Director in the department, Hajiya Khadijat Kazeem, she said it’s high time to start inducting financial literacy and culture of savings on Nigerian youths starting with students at secondary schools .
” At the CBN , we are partnering with numerous agencies ( government and non- governmental) to teach our children and youths about financial matters and also to create an enabling environment for them to gain access to basic banking and financial products and services through various initiatives, especially the financial inclusion strategy”.
” An important aspect of this strategy is the implementation of financial literacy programmes across various target groups of Nigerian population. Children and youths are an important target group for the purpose of the financial literacy programme. We believe that financial literacy is better learned at a young age instead of in adulthood . The wisdom is that, a habit imparted in the youth at an impressionable age becomes a way of life. On the contrary, where the youth grow without financial education, it would be difficult for them to have financial literacy and be capable of managing their own financial matters in a way that will impact their well- being when they become adults”, she said.
In conjunction with numerous stakeholders , she said CBN has developed robust financial literacy activities which is undergoing a review to equip Nigerian youths with capabilities of making informed decisions that will enable them to effectively participate in the financial system .
To deepen saving culture among Nigerians, the students and CBN team went to Dutse main market and addressed market men and women on the imperative of saving regardless of any amount.
Speaking , miss Perpetual Peter , JSS 1 student at Government Secondary School Dutse Alhaji said the financial week meant a lot to her.
” This week means a lot to me. One it teaches about savings and lots more. Its a global financial week with emphasis on financial literacy . My advice to my fellow students is , we should try to save because savings help a lot. savings can safe lives and when you save it can change your life significantly “.
Global Money Work( GMW) is an annual event that creates awareness amongst youth and children by teaching them about savings, investments entrepreneurship and employment generation through interactive activities .
