Source: Radio New Zealand
123RF
One commerce teacher backs a possible investment programme for students and says demand for investment education is growing.
ACT leader David Seymour has floated the idea of giving every year 11 student $500 to invest.
It would be supervised as part of a programme to raise financial literacy and encourage Kiwis to diversify their investments.
Students would get more freedom to manage their windfall as they move through a year long investment cause.
The $30 million annually to fund the scheme would come out of the government’s annual Kiwi Saver subsidy.
One option could see student’s allowed to cash out any gains above $500 or credit them to a student loan account.
Commerce teacher at Cashmere High School, Matt Benassi, said the idea resonated with his students.
“I asked my students about it this afternoon… they wanted to know more about it.
“We are getting more and more demand regarding wanting to know more about investment.”
When asked whether the programme would work and who should teach it, Benassi leaned towards getting in experts.
“I think if the programme was set up so that experts could come in and discuss this then there’s some possibly to deliver that, and I think there are some experts in the educational field that would tackle that really really well.
“Would most teachers be able to? I would really like to hear from the experts.
“I know I get experts into my class to discuss it and the students do have lots of questions around it to gain more knowledge…”
He said using a simulation would not have the same impact of real money.
“The fact that it isn’t fake money, this isn’t a simulation, these aren’t just pretend numbers on a board, this is actual money…”, he said.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand