Financial literacy should be mandated in curriculum, teaching staff say
"We've learned how to save, the difference between wanting and needing stuff, like essentials on what to save for," Cassie said.
She is now saving for university and putting aside cash in an "emergency fund" in case something unexpected comes up.
Loganlea State High School in southern Greater Brisbane has a small farm where students tend animals and learn financial literacy as part of a wellbeing program that aims to empower students for the real world.
"We're getting learners' (driver's licence) this year so I'm probably more saving toward a car, that's what's most important to me right now. In the future it'll be university as well," Alyssa said.
"Knowing how much to put into my savings and what I need that week or what I need that month."
Principal Kerri Shephard runs this quickly expanding school that sits in one of the fastest growing regions in the country.
About 85 per cent of the students are in the bottom quarters for socio-educational advantage.
"We have students from a variety of backgrounds and we have staff from a variety of backgrounds and that might include students who are refugees," Ms Shephard said.
"We have students who have moved here from different parts of Australia due to housing instability."
In 2021, 44 per cent of students left Loganlea State High without plans for further study or work.
Today that figure has more than halved to 20 per cent and the school attributes that success to embedding wellbeing in the curriculum.
"For us, in our school, financial literacy is really important for every student because it opens up doors that weren't open before," Ms Shephard said.
Ms Shephard said students learned how to avoid bad debt like personal loans or a mobile phone contract they couldn't afford.
With many students going into trades after school that advice includes saving for their first car to enable them to graduate work-ready.
"Rather than just rolling the dice and see where it lands, they make deliberate decisions based on actual information, not TikTok videos," she said.
The school teaches "Cashed Up" a classroom resource from the Financial Basics Foundation (FBF), a financial literacy not-for-profit founded in 2002 that aims to empower young people.
"One in five Australian young people are finding financial matters one of the most stressful things in their life and they've experienced financial stress in the last 12 months," FBF CEO Katrina Samios said.
"We certainly know it's a concern and we know that young people are sitting amongst those with the lowest financial literacy in the country."
The Cashed Up course includes modules on how to budget, prioritise needs and wants, avoid online scams, navigate a first job and pay tax.
The foundation is planning new lessons on wealth creation, superannuation, buying a first car and overseas travel.
Ms Samios said the limited research on young people's financial literacy demonstrated a need for this to be a mandated subject taught in schools.
"Financial literacy is an essential life skill. It's something that all of us need to use and yet it's not part of the mandatory Australian curriculum," she said.
Ms Shephard said she knows what an impost it can be to add to an already crowded curriculum but she unequivocally supports including financial literacy.
"Schools are already very busy places but I've been an educator for 25 years and I think there's never been a more important time for young people to have a wholistic education," she said.
"The traditional things that schools look for like academic success are underpinned by things like financial literacy being available to everyone."
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