R3 members will be visiting secondary schools that currently implement the ifs School of Finance qualifications. They will offer their skills in the form of discussing with students the perils of personal debt and how it can be prevented.
This quarter’s Insolvency Service statistics showed that personal insolvency has continued to soar with 26,021 individual insolvencies in England and Wales. This was an increase of 66.3 per cent on the same period a year ago. The number of bankruptcies rose by 32.5 per cent and Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVA’s) , increased by 153.2% when compared to the same period as last year.
According to research from the Institute of Public Policy (ippr), the leading think tank, personal finance classes can enable youngsters to be better off by up to £32,000 between the ages of 35-49. IPPR research highlights evidence from the USA where they teach children basic finance skills, including budgeting, credit management, balancing chequebooks and interest rates.
Tony Supperstone, R3 President said: “Personal debt in the UK is increasing at enormous levels, by starting with children we can help educate them on managing their finances for the future. By allying ourselves with the ifs School of Finance, we are actively trying to encourage more education for young people today on the dangers of personal debt. We want to ensure that young adults leave school equipped with proper skills in how to manage money and debt.
Until now there has been no education on the introduction of student loans, which have exacerbated the debt culture. The ifs School of Finance qualifications will successfully help to improve how students manage this debt.
The ifs School of Finance has been existing providers of AS and A Level equivalent qualifications since 2003 and have recently launched a GCSE equivalent qualification in personal finance, all of which R3 fully supports.
Anne Kiem, Head of Wider Financial learning, said: “R3 members have valuable first hand experience in dealing with personal debt and can give real life case studies to the students which will doubtless prove helpful“.
Essential topics covered by the ifs School of Finance qualifications include debt, loans, credit cards and budgeting. R3 members will complement these important issues by illustrating real-life cases.
