By Glenn Hicks

Schools excited by new financial literacy courses

Mar 29, 2018 | 2:00 PM

The Sask. Rivers Public School Division is giving a warm welcome to financial literacy courses in Saskatchewan schools.

Education Minister Gord Wyant announced the courses were coming earlier this week, saying students should learn how to manage their personal finances because it’s “an essential skill in our daily lives and we want our students to be prepared for their futures.”

“This is a terrific response by the minister,” Sask. Rivers Superintendent Randy Emmerson told paNOW. “The concept of financial literacy has been identified as a concern for a number of years, and those concerns were raised by students, staff and the community at large.”

The government move to bring the new curricula into the classroom was a response to requests from the education sector, industry stakeholders and Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce. While the focus will be on Grades 11 and 12, there will also be opportunities for younger students to get their heads around things like the cost of living, pricing, saving and borrowing.

While the courses are still to be developed in the coming year, Emmerson said he’d like to see some key elements included, such as interest and actual costs of products.

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“As a standalone course I’d like to see the importance of investing, savings and students taught to be aware of market fluctuations,” he said. “When it does get to the point when people become independent, they’re more prepared for those hidden or unexpected costs and financial worries we all need to deal with.”

News of the curriculum change will come as music to the ears of parents who’ve had the age-old conversation with their high-school-age kids about the cost of living, the need to save and why “money doesn’t grow on trees.” Asked if the financial literacy courses would give young people a broader sense of the world around them, Emmerson said that was the duty of educators.

“We’re not only having students cross the stage with graduating caps and gowns, but we’re in a world of creating and helping sustain high levels of citizenship,” he said. “If we have folks that are more aware, they’re more likely to be contributing citizens in our society.”

The financial literacy courses are expected to be ready for piloting in 2018-19 with full implementation as early as September of 2019.

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow