KUALA LUMPUR – Several educationists have hailed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s proposal to introduce financial literacy campaigns in schools and campuses.
Speaking to Scoop, they stressed the significance of imparting financial well-being to the youth, whether as elective courses, integrated into mathematics subjects, or through entrepreneurial projects.
Parent Action Group for Education chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said encouraging a preference for cashless payments could discourage overspending, while also promoting discipline and responsible pocket money management.
She believes the prevalence of bankruptcy among young adults underscores the need for financial literacy.
“They were not necessarily spending more than they earned but were rather influenced by so-called financial consultants to invest in ‘get rich quick’ schemes,” she said.
Azimah explained that these schemes include “investing” in unlicensed or unregulated stocks, currency, cryptocurrency and commodities.
“It is imperative that students learn to differentiate between what is genuine and legitimate and the ‘legal scams’ that lurk out there to rob innocent investors.”
Following the implementation of these courses, Azimah expects a significant reduction in young adults facing bankruptcy in the near future. However, she suggested that introducing financial literacy courses to secondary school students would be a more reasonable approach.
Meanwhile, United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) deputy chairman Datuk Tan Yew Sing stressed the importance of saving and financial knowledge for tertiary students, recommending that these courses be offered as electives for them.
He also highlighted the importance of involving private entrepreneurs in the programme for its effectiveness.
Tan also pointed out that learning about stock investment should be optional and based on student interest.
“Some can still achieve success in their lives without involvement in stock investment. It is only one of many financial vehicles, even if one is interested in financial investment.”
“The scope of financial literacy is broad, covering many subtopics. There’s no need to focus exclusively on stock investment,” Tan said.
Previously, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had discussed the possibility of initiating financial literacy campaigns in educational institutions with the education and higher education ministries.
This would include the practices of saving and stock investment, aimed at exposing school and university students to financial literacy from an early age.
Anwar, who also serves as finance minister, said that this initiative is crucial because the public’s knowledge of stock investment is relatively weak, with many individuals prioritising sentiment over a company’s fundamentals as the basis for their investments. – October 13, 2023