Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 10 April 2019
92. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills the elements of the secondary school curriculum which specifically pertain to personal financial literacy; if this is compulsory or voluntary; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16908/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraFinancial literacy is explored through a number of curricular subjects across post primary education.
Junior Cycle
More generally, statement of Learning 14 in the Framework for Junior Cycle (https://www.ncca.ie/en/junior-cycle/framework-for-junior-cycle) states that the student:
Makes informed financial decisions and develops good consumer skills
Junior Cycle Mathematics
The revised Junior Cycle syllabus exposes the students to a range of topics relating to financial literacy:
In Junior Certificate, students learn about:
- Solving problems involving mobile phone tariffs, currency transactions, shopping (bills), Value Added Tax and meter readings
- Making value judgements for money calculations (expenditure and savings)
- Using ratio and proportion to conduct currency calculations.
More specifically students should be able to:
- At Ordinary Level and Higher Level, solve problems involving profit and loss; %profit (on the cost price), Discount (%discount), selling price, compound interest (for no more than three compounding periods), income tax (standard rate only) and net pay
- At Higher Level only, solve problems that involve cost price selling price, discount , mark up, (profit as a % of the selling price) compound interest, income tax and net pay (including other deductions)
Junior Cycle Business Studies
In Junior Cycle Business Studies, there are three strands of study: Personal Finance, Enterprise and Our Economy.
Personal finance focuses on students developing a set of skills, knowledge and values that allows them to make informed decisions to effectively and responsibly manage their financial resources.
Enterprise encourages students to identify opportunities and turn them into practical and targeted activities within business and wider society through the development and application of their understanding, skills and values. It develops students’ basic understanding of the financial, marketing and operational functions of an organisation.
Our economy enables students to understand the dynamic relationship between the local, national and international economic situation. It develops students’ ability to identify and understand basic economic concepts as they relate to personal finance, enterprise and the Irish economy.
Financial literacy skills are developed throughout Strand 1 but also are integrated into Strand 2 and 3, where students apply financial literacy skills developed in Strand 1 to enterprises (businesses) and to the economy.
Junior Cycle Home Economics
Financial literacy is also covered in the subject of Home Economics at Junior Cycle and Senior Cycle. In Junior Cycle Home Economics, students are enabled to:
- apply consumer decision-making skills in the management of personal, family and household resources for everyday living
- debate consumers’ rights and responsibilities
- examine how consumers are protected in Ireland by legislation, statutory and non-statutory agencies apply financial literacy skills in the preparation and evaluation of a budget for independent living
Senior Cycle Mathematics
In the Leaving Certificate, students should be able to:
- At Ordinary Level and Higher Level, solve problems that involve calculating cost price, selling price, loss, discount, mark up (profit as a % of cost price), margin (profit as a % of selling price) compound interest, depreciation(reducing balance method), income tax and net pay (including other deductions)
- At Higher Level only, apply the mathematics of geometric progressions to calculating repayments for amortised loans and problems relating to savings (future and present values)
- It is also worth noting that in the context and applications approach to the new syllabuses other sections of the course (strands 4 and 5 in particular)are brought to bear in solving problems involving finance and as a result students are given a rich repository of approaches to solving the everyday and very important problems.
- The learning outcomes at Foundation Level are virtually identical to those at Ordinary Level in the Junior Cycle
Senior Cycle Accounting
Accounting is concerned with the preparation, recording, extraction, presentation and analysis of financial information for the purpose of making economic decisions. The subject has a dual role in education in that it has both a practical and theoretical aspect. Accounting equips students with a specific language and techniques relevant to many areas of everyday financial, business and social life.
Senior Cycle Economics
A new Economics specification has been developed for implementation in September 2019. It includes learning outcomes relating to the demand and supply of money, creation of credit, interest rates and regulation in the financial markets.
Senior Cycle Business
Household and business manager-learning outcomes - Aspects of finance include: basic cash flow, main sources of finance, cost of finance, current account, and applying for a loan.
Business development-learning outcomes- main sources of finance available for business start-up. Using skills for business-learning outcomes-explanation of the relevance of economic indicators such as inflation, employment rates, and interest rates. Economic growth, national income and national debt for individuals and the economy.
Leaving Certificate Applied
A number of units in LCA Mathematical Applications focus on the development of financial literacy.
