ASIC's MoneySmart Teaching Program aims to strengthen the financial capability of students across Australia. An independent evaluation found that the Program supports stronger student financial literacy and greater engagement with teachers and the wider school community in financial literacy education.
ASIC commissioned EY Sweeney to conduct an evaluation of ASIC's MoneySmart Teaching Program to reflect and compliment a commitment from States and Territories to establish the Program in schools.
The evaluation shows that students understand the importance of learning about money, with 96 per cent of students saying it was important to learn about money, and 82 per cent saying they were interested in learning about money.
'Working in partnership with State and Territory education departments has been essential to the success of the Program. Financial literacy is part of the Australian Curriculum, it is not an extra, and there is a broader commitment to embed financial literacy education more fully in schools. We will continue to look for more opportunities to influence and strengthen the financial capabilities of teachers and students to make a real difference in the financial wellbeing of communities', said ASIC Acting Chair Peter Kell.
The Program provides professional development for teachers and resources aligned with the Australian Curriculum to help teachers deliver financial literacy education in the classroom. Since 2012, more than 32,000 teachers across the country have undertaken MoneySmart professional development since the program began, and more than 70% of all Australian schools have accessed the resources on ASIC's MoneySmart website.
'Many teachers reported a positive impact on their own financial decisions in relation to credit cards, budgeting and borrowing in response to engaging with the teacher professional development program. Encouragingly, 83 per cent of teachers using ASIC's MoneySmart Teaching Program reported that it increased their ability to teach their students about money, while 90 per cent reported that engaging with the Program gave them more confidence when talking about money', said Mr Kell.
Dr Phil Lambert PSM, Australian Government Financial Literacy Board member and former General Manager, Curriculum for the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, supports the ongoing implementation of the Program. 'By continuing to deliver quality classroom resources with practical and real-life examples ASIC's MoneySmart Teaching Program is playing a vital role in ensuring young Australians have the knowledge and skills they'll need to make informed financial decisions, around managing their money, now and into the future', said Dr Lambert.
The EY Sweeney evaluation report and ASIC's response to the report is available here.
Background
ASIC's MoneySmart Teaching Program is the Australian Government's national financial education program working across the formal education sector to support the development of greater financial capabilities in young Australians, in partnership with state and territory education departments.
ASIC's MoneySmart Teaching Program builds teacher capability through professional development and classroom resources. ASIC's MoneySmart Teaching resources are available online at moneysmart.gov.au.
The key evaluation objectives of ASIC's MoneySmart Teaching Program were:
- Identify the impact on student learning, engagement and motivation of learning consumer and financial literacy capabilities.
- Explore the impact of the Program on engagement and confidence of teachers and if it influenced their consumer and financial literacy teaching capability and practice.
- Explore the impact of the Program on the engagement of teachers and their confidence in their own personal financial wellbeing.
- Assess the take-up of the Program to demonstrate to what extent it is being adopted nationally by teachers and schools for consumer and financial literacy teaching and learning.
- Evaluate the impact of the Program in embedding consumer and financial literacy in teaching and learning in schools.
- Identify best practice case studies of the implementation of financial literacy education in schools, including MoneySmart Schools and by individual teachers.