PETALING JAYA: Experts say children should be taught from a young age on how to deal with money and manage their finances.
They said starting as early as their primary years, when children’s attitudes towards money begin to form, is key to ensuring the financial and social welfare of our youth and the next generation.
Social and children’s rights activist Syed Azmi Alhabshi said teaching children financial literacy from a young age has become a necessity in today’s materialistic society.
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“The world today is full of trends, peer pressure, and wealth that frequently influence youth from a young age due to the prevalence of social media.
“As a result, protecting children nowadays also includes making them understand how to make better financial choices when making even the smallest purchases from young.
“Doing this early will help to instil good financial habits in them, which also helps them develop not just a better sense of value towards money, but also become more responsible when they join the workforce in the future,” he said.
Syed Azmi said doing so would also help discourage young children from turning to a possible life of crime to fund irresponsible spending.
He also suggested that financial literacy be incorporated into other subjects and lessons in school through realistic problem-based learning, rather than being its own subject.
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“These real-life questions or quizzes should be used in frequent competitions as children learn best through direct experience and activities,” he added.
Child’s rights activist Datuk Dr Hartini Zainudin shared the sentiment, saying that early financial literacy is key to preventing youth from falling for today’s excessive number of financial scams or debt traps.
“By learning about money management at a young age, individuals can develop good financial habits such as saving regularly and avoiding unnecessary debt.
“This will empower them to navigate the increasingly complex financial landscape we have today, thanks to the rapid growth of technology and AI (artificial intelligence), which are frequently used in scams.
“It is crucial for individuals to have a basic understanding of financial concepts to protect themselves from fraud and to make sound financial decisions,” she said.
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Hartini said collaboration between the government and financial institutions would be the best way to secure the financial future of both Malaysians and the country as a whole.
“Widespread financial literacy among the youth would significantly reduce the future burden on our social welfare systems as fewer people are likely to fall into debt or rely on government assistance.
“Other than the typical awareness campaigns and initiatives, local council community-based financial literacy programmes for youth would also be more effective at educating those in rural areas.
“Financial institutions should also work together with the government to develop innovative tools and platforms for financial education to protect both their future customer base and fellow Malaysians,” she added.
