Financial education for students is not just about making money.

On December 10, the Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences in collaboration with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) organized a workshop on "Orientation of financial education for Vietnamese high school students".

The workshop aims to raise awareness of the important role of financial education in the general education curriculum, and at the same time develop strategic directions to integrate this content into the current education curriculum to develop financial capacity for students from an early age.

Professor Le Anh Vinh, Director of the Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences, emphasized that financial education is one of the important goals for the successful implementation of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy, approved by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 149/QD-TTg dated January 22, 2020.

According to Professor Le Anh Vinh, personal financial management is not simply about earning or saving money, but is a comprehensive combination of income, spending, savings, investment and risk management. At the same time, this also involves building personal habits and behaviors, combined with knowledge about financial products and services.

However, many Vietnamese people are still unfamiliar with basic financial concepts, so financial education right from school is a strategic and urgent step. The financial education materials for Vietnamese students will be piloted in a number of provinces representing 6 socio-economic regions.

Professor Le Anh Vinh hopes that international experts and scientists will share experiences and contribute ideas to effectively integrate financial education content into the 2018 general education program.

Help students understand investment and risk management

According to Ms. Le Anh Lan, QUNICEF education expert in Vietnam, financial education does not stop at providing basic knowledge, but needs to aim at in-depth understanding of personal financial management skills such as spending, saving, investing and risk management.

To do this, teachers need to be equipped with specialized knowledge of financial education, as well as understand students' psychology as well as the barriers they may encounter when approaching financial concepts.

Associate Professor Pham Quoc Khanh, Deputy Director of the Department of Quality Management (Ministry of Education and Training), said that to achieve effectiveness, schools need to integrate financial education content into the curriculum through subjects and extracurricular activities. At the same time, teachers need to be equipped with professional skills to convey knowledge in an easy-to-understand and close-to-student manner.