The financial literacy education curriculum change parents have been waiting for – Cecilia Robinson

Financial education will now be part of the social sciences curriculum from Year 1 to 10. Photo / 123RF

THREE KEY FACTS

• The Government has integrated financial education into the curriculum from Year 1, addressing long-standing gaps.
• Children will learn about saving, spending and budgeting from age 5 and advanced topics in secondary school.
• A new Parent Portal offers resources to help families support their children’s financial education at home.

The Government’s recent move to embed financial education into the New Zealand curriculum from Year 1 is a much-needed shift and one that reflects what young people have been signalling for some time: they want this knowledge.

I was reminded of this recently when I came across Jacob, a young entrepreneur who, while still in high school, created a game called Liquidation, a clever, hands-on way to teach Year 7 and 8 students the basics of business and financial literacy. Now at university, he’s continuing to build on that early spark of innovation.

What struck me most wasn’t just Jacob’s initiative, but what it represents: young people aren’t waiting around for the system to catch up, they’re actively creating the tools they wish they’d had. That speaks volumes about the gaps in our current approach and even more about the potential of this next generation when we give them the right foundations.

As a mum of three, one in intermediate, one in primary, and one thriving (and forever sticky) at kindy, I think a lot about the future our kids are stepping into. Our dinner table conversations bounce from “how do volcanoes erupt?” to “how can I invest in shares?”

It’s that last one that caught me off guard.

Like many parents, I’ve often wondered: why didn’t we learn this at school? Budgeting, interest rates, mortgages, tax – these weren’t part of my education. I could analyse Shakespearean tragedy, but no one taught me how a credit card works. And I know I’m not alone in that.

So hearing that financial education will now be part of the social sciences curriculum from Year 1 to 10 gave me genuine relief and a little bit of hope.

Because, let’s be honest: this has been a long time coming. Despite the efforts of some incredible teachers and pilot programmes, we’ve lacked structure and consistency. But now, that’s changing.

Children will begin learning about saving, spending and budgeting from the age of 5 and by the time they reach secondary school, they’ll be exploring debt, risk and long-term financial decision-making. Financial literacy is also being explicitly integrated into the maths curriculum, with financial maths now a dedicated strand.

This isn’t about asking Year 3 kids to file a tax return. It’s about building confidence and giving them the tools to make smart, informed choices in the real world.

And it’s not just students who’ll benefit. The Ministry of Education has launched a new Parent Portal – an online hub filled with resources, curriculum guides, activities and videos to help us understand what our kids are learning and how we can support them at home. It’s a big step towards building a stronger, more transparent partnership between families and schools.

Because let’s face it: money has long been an afterthought in our education system. Meanwhile, teens are being offered Buy Now, Pay Later schemes before they can vote, and getting crypto advice on TikTok before they’ve learned to budget. The world has changed and our curriculum needs to keep up.

I‘m genuinely optimistic about what this shift means for the next generation. Implementation will take time. Teachers will need support. Schools will need flexibility. But this is a meaningful step forward.

For parents like me and for young innovators like Jacob, it’s encouraging to see the system finally acknowledging the reality our kids are growing up in.

Now, if only someone could embed “how to pack a lunchbox your child will actually eat” into the curriculum, we’d really be winning.