• Friday, March 29, 2024
businessday logo

BusinessDay

Lack of teachers, materials may hinder implementation of financial education – NUT

Managing-Finances

The Nigeria Union of Teachers, Lagos State Wing, has hailed introduction of financial education curriculum into basic and senior secondary schools but said lack of teachers and materials might hinder implementation.

Adedoyin Adesina, Deputy Chairman of the wing, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos that there were no personnel and materials to implement the curriculum.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on March 27 said it had developed and introduced the curriculum into the schools.

An official of the CBN, Ms. Khadijah Kasim, said in Abuja that the apex bank developed the curriculum in collaboration with the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council.

She said that it was aimed at inculcating in children how to use financial services responsibly – including the habit of savings and investment  – to enable them to make informed financial decisions in future.

Kasim said that the curriculum, already approved by Nigeria Council on Education, would be introduced in pilot states across the six geo-political zones from the next academic year starting in September.

While hailing the idea, Adesina, however, expressed the worry that many public schools lacked the personnel and materials to effectively implement the curriculum.

“Where are the materials to implement the curriculum? Where are the teachers trained for that purpose?

“What are the reference materials for teaching? Have they organised workshops and seminars on the mode of implementation?

“There are other extraneous factors that will hinder the success of this idea,’’ he told NAN.

The unionist urged that the factors be looked into by relevant bodies to realise the objectives of the curriculum.

Adesina said that, if well taught, financial education would inculcate in children the rudiments of financial management.

“It will also inculcate in them proper accountability, probity and financial propriety, ” he added.