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VOL.7 November 2015
Should Junior School Kids be Groomed to Become Financial Wizzes?

Since the fall semester of 2015, Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, has begun offering a course in finance in primary and middle schools. It is the first city in China to start such a course in junior schools.

The course covers basic information about banks, financial markets, personal finance and stock market investments as well as a glossary of basic financial terms.

The initiative has sparked a heated public debate. Some have welcomed the course. They say equipping students with basic financial know-how from an early age will widen their knowledge and nurture the ability to manage personal finances. Learning the techniques to invest in the stock market will be helpful when they grow up.

However, the course's critics maintain that it is too early for primary school students to learn about finance and the stock market as at that age they are incapable of grasping the true meaning of such issues. Therefore, the course will be a burden for youngsters. The critics also argue that managing personal finance should be taught at home, not in schools.

Pro

Chen Fang

Xinmin Evening News

When it comes to finance, people usually focus on investment and making money. This shows a narrow understanding of financial management. Knowing how to spend one's money is also a part of it. In China, as more and more families become richer, most children are not familiar with financial concepts. Every Spring Festival, for example, how to use their "lucky money," the sums gifted to them by their elders, becomes a subject of heated discussion, implying the necessity of finance management education from an early age.

In China, college students' management capacity of their daily expenses has generated much discussion. Some students' extravagance is shocking. This is partly because they have rich families but also partly reflects their poor finance management capability. Nowadays, many young people spend every penny of their monthly wages without saving anything. Isn't this a result of their poor financial management capability? Educating students in the proper use of money and giving them some financial knowledge will help them better utilize their incomes and plan their lives when they become adults.

Con

Pi Haizhou

Commentator on finance.21cn.com

Primary and middle school students should be given basic financial knowledge, such as what money is, its functions and how to use it properly. A correct understanding of money will help foster positive consumption concepts and habits. However, how to invest it is too heavy a topic for such young minds. Besides, they may not have an opportunity to practice what they are being taught. Children can't be sent to banks to deposit money.

It's fine for students in middle schools to gain financial knowledge, but it's too risky to have them play the stock market. Also, it will squeeze their already limited study time. Their studies will be seriously affected if they are distracted by financial issues.

To be a rational investor, one must know how to make a basic analysis of the stock market and understand the macroeconomic situation, both domestically and internationally. These are difficult topics for primary school students. How can you expect middle school students to cope with the stock market? A stock market investor must be capable of taking risks independently as speculation is a risky practice. There is no need to encourage young students to get involved in this speculative market.

Pro

Huo Zekai

Guangzhou Daily

The faster the economy develops, the more important managing personal finance is. Take home purchase, for example. The older generations prefer to pay for an apartment with a lump sum as they don't like the idea of taking a mortgage, thinking it is difficult to live with a debt. However, that makes them neglect an important fact that housing prices change from time to time. Nowadays, the housing prices in large cities are so high that many wage earners cannot afford to buy a home. Some people regret that they did not do so earlier when apartments were still affordable. This is blamed on their lack of basic financial management knowledge.

Therefore, learning financial management is becoming increasingly important in modern society. It's a basic life skill instead of something you can turn a blind eye to if you are not interested in it. Guangdong is an economically developed province, and it is urgent that we begin educating young students in financial matters.

Con

Liang Jiangtao

www.jxnews.com.cn

Offering finance courses in primary and middle schools is an idea with good intentions. However, the need for financial management, unlike environmental protection and health education, is not so urgent that it must begin in primary schools.

More importantly, we should consult the young students themselves: Do they desire another course? This is an issue of choice, not one that should be decided for them by the local education authorities. Primary and middle school students are already under immense pressure to do well in their studies. In addition to school, they attend auxiliary classes in their spare time. We don't want to overtax these children.

However, the finance course can be an elective one, like learning to play football, the piano, etc. Let students themselves decide whether to take it or not. Those who are really interested in finance and the stock market may probably grow up to become the next Warren Buffett, while others may become experts in the subjects in which they show true interest. Making the course an elective one will satisfy all involved.

Pro

Yang Lan

Media commentator

In this age of fast economic developments and the diversification of financial products and services, Chinese people's average awareness of the necessity to manage personal finance lags far behind. Many have little knowledge of securities, equities and stocks. Therefore, when the stock market appears bullish, many people jump in to make investments. It is just because of good luck that some succeed in making a fortune. A finance course will lay a solid knowledge foundation for students to better manage their personal finance in the future.

Besides, the course will also educate them in risk management. When children grow up, knowing how to invest and manage personal finance will be a basic survival skill. Learning about risks in investment will help them make wiser decisions and strengthen their capability to deal with stress and failures.

Con

Fu Gui

Media commentator

I don't think it is wise to instill finance-related knowledge in students in primary and middle schools. First of all, Chinese students already have too many subjects to learn. Will these kids be able to handle another subject that is not so urgent? Fully grasping finance-related knowledge requires students to have some basic concepts. Isn't it too irrational to have them learn such terms at such an early age?

Second, does popularizing finance-related knowledge among kids mean they are encouraged to invest in the stock market? Kids in primary and middle schools are too young and have no mature concepts about money and investment. Therefore, they are incapable of rationally investing in the stock market. Launching the finance course among students who are financially dependent will only add to the burden on their families as their parents have to foot the bill in the end.

 

 

 

 

 

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