Minister wants to improve financial literacy of students

The Education Minister said on Thursday that there was a need to improve students’ knowledge of financial literacy, given that “being at the OECD average is not enough” and recognising the importance of schools and teachers in this process.

“Globally, the results should not satisfy us,” Fernando Alexandre said during the presentation of the PISA 2022 study, which reassessed the performance of thousands of 15-year-old schoolchildren and concluded that the Portuguese performed worse than the Portuguese. 2018.

On a scale of zero to one thousand, the Portuguese scored 494, in line with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average of 498, said Anabela Serran of the board of directors of the Institute for Educational Assessment. (IAVE) during the presentation of the study in Lisbon.

These results place Portugal in 9th place on the list of 20 countries.

“We have no reason to be encouraged or very satisfied with the result,” said the Minister of Education, Science and Innovation (MECI), arguing that “there is still a lot to improve” and that the Portuguese are “far from where they are now.” the goal is to be above the OECD average.”

Fernando Alexandre recalled that there is a “process of analysis of learning” and in this sense “financial literacy will be strengthened”, especially because if students are “not so bad” in their attitudes and behavior, the same cannot be said in relation to knowledge, where there is still “huge room for improvement.”

An OECD study found that young Portuguese have less contact with financial products and activities: only 38% have a bank account (the OECD average is 63%) and only 27% have a debit or credit card (compared to 62% for the OECD) – , but they stand out when it comes to price comparison.

“Portugal has worsened its position slightly in absolute terms, we have fallen more than the OECD average. We are at the OECD average and Portugal can never be satisfied when it is at the OECD average. We have to be more ambitious and we set more ambitious goals,” he told reporters at the end of the results presentation.

Regarding strategies to improve student achievement and learning, the minister acknowledged that “at the end of the day, it all happens in the classroom,” where caring, well-trained teachers and tools that engage students are needed.

Eulalia Alexander, Deputy Director General of the General Directorate of Education, explained that financial literacy is already taught in citizenship and development classes and has been a compulsory topic for many years, and there are even some concepts that are started to be worked on even before the start of education. school .

“Our students say they lack knowledge about things like how to write a contract,” explained Eulalia Alexander.

According to PISA 2022, 32% of students engage in financial literacy activities in math classes and 30% in civics classes, but they are more likely to encounter tasks that explore the difference between spending money on what you need versus what you want.

Inez Drumond, vice-president of the Commission on the Securities Market (CMVM), recalled that “financial literacy is the first line of defense for the consumer.”

According to Carlos Morais Pires, the European Commission’s representative in Portugal, “the Portuguese know how to calculate their lives,” but they are “risk averse.”

According to Anabela Serrao, from the board of directors of the Institute for Educational Evaluation (IAVE), boys perform better than girls, and socioeconomic status has a strong impact on performance: the poorest students were on average 74 points lower than the most advantaged students.

The Portuguese stand out for their habit of comparing prices in different shops before buying: 70% of them prefer to wait and buy when it is cheaper. Only about half of young people in the OECD adhere to this behavior.