Greetings everyone,
The need for financial literacy is something that cannot be hammered on enough in this day and age. This is because we live in a time where there are multiple opportunities to earn a decent amount of living as compared to the previous generations. But why then isn't this pertinent subject incorporated in the school curriculum?
Despite the tremendous growth in science and technology, the traditional school system which we have grown accustomed to, has remained fairly the same especially in our parts of the world. Here in Africa, the education system is geared towards memorization than the Aquisition of skills.
But why is this the case?
This is because schools are more focused on students with the ability to store a vast amount of knowledge. As such, students are examined on their ability to reproduce similar material as the ones they saw in the text books.
I think this structure of education is aligned towards the professions that are mostly deemed as prestigious. That way, you can be well prepared for that route of excellence.
For instance, majority of bright students are encouraged to pursue medicine in the tertiary institutions. That way, they can acquire a stable high paying profession that would grant them financial independence. This therefore pushes these students to accept the fact that blind cramming of knowledge is somehow a form of training to help them realize their "dream" profession.
Thus, a large percentage of students are unbothered to learn about any form of income generation to support themselves while they are in school.
But what if this wasn't the case?
From a young age, the goal of most students in Ghana is usually to simply get good grades so that they can climb up in academia. But what if this wasn't our educational structure? What if students are taught about the financial aspects of life at a very young age?
Financial avenues such as entrepreneurship must be encouraged among kids so that they learn marketing skills and strategies at a very young age. In Africa, some parents are of the notion that once kids start focusing too much on wealth acquisition, the desire to learn slowly fades away. But this would not be the case if it were a requisite course embedded in the syllabus (Perhaps an extra credit course).
It would be particularly useful to teach students about the exciting prospects of modern technology such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, machine learning and many others that is reshaping our world as we know it. They would also learn about the attractive financial incentives that comes along with it.
This would produce a new breed of graduates with competent skills and technical knowhow that would help them become leaders in the modern society. This will surely set them up to become financially sound even if they don't land a "9 to 5" job in future.
Thank you for your attention.
