FINANCIAL EDUCATION FOR YOUTH AND IN SCHOOLS
International guidelines and effective practices
Assessing needs and tracking progress :
PISA Financial Literacy
Flore-Anne Messy
Senior Policy Expert
Executive Secretary of the International
Network on Financial Education
OECD Financial Affairs Division
G 20 Leaders’ Recognition, June 2012
“We recognize the need for women and
youth to gain access to financial
services and education, ask the GPFI,
the OECD/INFE, and the World Bank to
identify barriers they may face and call
for a progress report to be delivered by the
next Summit”
Outline
I
II
III
• Financial education for youth and in schools :
Increasing needs, obvious benefits but challenges
• OECD/INFE survey findings and
guidelines for financial education in schools
• International benchmarks on youth’s financial
competencies : PISA Financial Literacy
I. Importance of financial education for youth :
Increasing needs....
• New
generations
will bear
more
financial
risks
• Canada- 63%
of youth think
it is essential
to learn about
money at
young age
Complex
financial
decisions
are central
in people’s
lives
Youth are
worried
and want
to learn
Youths
have
access to
financial
products
early
They are
less
financially
skilled
• UK- 52% of
teenagers
who have
been in debt
by the time
they are 17
•
US- only
27% of youth
know about
inflation and
can do simple
interest
calculation
I. Needs which cannot be adequately met
without policy intervention
Parents are not
evenly equipped
to transmit
sound financial
habits
Financial literacy
is overwhelming
correlated with
socio-economic
status
Financial literacy
gaps perpetuate
across
generations
I. Investing in financial education for youth and in
schools bears multiple fruits
• Learning environment
• Captive audience
• Quality of delivery
Great
context
Wide
outreach
•
•
•
•
6
Youth
Parents
Teachers
Broader
community
Bridging
social &
financial
literacy gaps
I. ....but is challenging in most countries
Ministries of education – level of interest?
• Curricula are perceived to be too crowded
• Financial education is a new topic
• Finance and education : two different languages and worlds
Teachers are not always well equipped, confident and
may be reluctant
Students’ motivation?
Quality and Sustainability of resources!
Lack of evidence of what works best
II- OECD/INFE policy tools on financial
education for youth and in schools
2005
OECD Recommendation :
“Financial education
should start at school”
2008
INFE expert subgroup
on financial education
in schools
2008-2013
Ongoing survey
• OECD/INFE Guidelines on
financial education
in schools
• Flagship publication on
Financial education for
youth and in schools
Policy instrument
and publication 
• Rationale for financial
education for youth and in
schools
• Figures and quotes
• Main guidance
LEAFLET! 
II- Findings from OECD/INFE Survey on financial
education and youth
Almost all National strategies prioritise
youth as their main target audience
An increasing number of countries
have introduced some financial
education in schools (close to 40)
Often accompanied by out of school
curricula activities and dedicated
youth programmes using innovative
tools and events
A range of stakeholders are involved
including public authorities, private
sector and NGOS
Resources are both public and private
II- OECD/INFE guidelines and effective practices
to promote financial education in schools
The Guidelines
1- Framework
2- Involvement 3- Design and
and modalities of
and
implementation
the introduction
responsibilities
of adequate
of financial
of relevant
support means
education in
stakeholders
and tools
schools
1. Framework and modalities : main issues
• Few examples of standalone
Standalone vs cross
curricular approaches? • Cross-curricular approaches prevail and
are effective
Mandatory subject?
Age?
the earlier the better
• is ideal to ensure all students receive
financial education ..
• but still rare and need to adapt to
existing education systems
• secondary school is more frequent
(e.g. Brazil, Czech Republic, Indonesia, UK)
• From kindergarten till high school in
Australia, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New
Zealand, Northern Ireland, South Africa, US
1. Content and scope of
Financial Education in Schools
More dedicated
learning
frameworks
A capacity building
process covering :
Content
(varying by age/grade)
• Australia, Brazil, Czech Republic, England,
Japan, Netherlands, Malaysia, NewZealand,
Northern Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, US
Jumpstart
•
•
•
•
Financial knowledge
Skills and behaviors
Attitudes and values
Entrepreneurship (e.g Australia, Japan,
Netherlands, Scotland, South Africa)
•
•
•
•
Money and transaction
Planning and managing finances
Risk and rewards
Financial landscape
1- Monitoring and and evaluation
are essential but limited
• Financial education in key school examinations (-)
• Quality monitoring (+)
• Impact evaluation (>) (e.g. Brazil & Italy)
• PISA Financial Literacy will provide first cross comparable
evidence and international benchmarks
2- Involvement of key and relevant stakeholders :
Public authorities & process
The involvement
process should be :
•
•
•
•
Inclusive
Consultative
Top down &
Bottom up
The Ministry of
Education may
need particular
support and
incentives
2- Involvement of key and relevant stakeholders :
Teachers and civil actors
Students !
Teachers
and their
association
Boader
community
Parents
2- Involvement of key stakeholders :
The role of the private sector
Essential partners, they have
The expertise
(e.g. they can provide real life
experience to students)
The resources
(financial and in-kind)
But, their financial education
activities should be monitored
to avoid potential
conflicts of interest
Support to public and NGO
activities (New Zealand)
Public private partnerships
(Malaysia)
Role of self regulatory bodies
In-kind support should be
monitored (South Africa)
And often the willingness to
be involved
Dedicated codes of conduct
(pfeg, UK)
3-Support to implementation :
Design and promotion of efficient means & tools
Teachers’ confidence and expertise
should be developed through:
• Promoting financial education as
a process to build values and support
informed every day life decisions (Spain)
• Available and relevant training (India)
• Incentives to train : part of professional
and personal development (South Africa)
• Ongoing support and dialogue (Japan)
3- Available and adequate resources
Mapped,
assessed and
classified
Objective and
marketing free (UK)
Use appropriate
language :
financial education
covers social and
family values
Quality certified
by relevant
authorities
(Australia)
Tailored to
students
Piloted and
refined
(New Zealand, South
Africa)
In-line with and
connected to
relevant and
national curricula
Real context and
engaging
Easily accessible
and (online) sources
well advertised
(New Zealand, US)
3- Right incentives and supporting activities
Recognise students’
achievements
Continue to build
evidence!
Promote teachers
and schools
efficient practices
(NZ)
harness social media
and learning among
peers
Organise special
events and contests
(Japan, Estonia)
Involve media &
community leaders
III- First international measure of Financial Literacy of Youth
Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)
OECD-managed
launched -2000
conducted every 3 years
• Cognitive assessment +:
capacity of 15 year old students
to apply knowledge and skills
essential for their full participation in
society
• More than 70 participating
jurisdictions
• 3 core areas of assessment :
Reading, Maths and Science
20
New in 2012:
international option on
Financial Literacy
• Participation of 18 countries :
• Australia, Belgium, Brazil (trial
phase), China Shanghai, Colombia,
Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia,
France, Israel, Italy, Latvia, New
Zealand, Poland, Russia, Slovak
Republic, Slovenia, Spain and US
• Supported by BBVA
III- PISA Financial Literacy first results in 2014–
what they will offer?
A first cross-country survey and international benchmarks
on youth’s financial competencies including :
Their relation to
to socio demographic
and macro economic
contexts
Their relation to
youth’s reading and
numeracy skills
Their relation to youth’s
experience with
money and access to
financial products
An initial cross country identification of
efficient practices in schools
21
III- Preparing PISA FL 2015
Enlarge the exercise
to countries
Allow 2012 participating
countries to monitor
trends/progress
Allow comparison across a
wider set of countries and
circumstances
Almost 20 countries
will participate
THANK YOU!
Flore-anne.messy@oecd.org
www.financial-education.org