FINANCIAL LITERACY CHALLENGE ADDS UP FOR VICTORIAN SCHOOLS
The Andrews Labor Government is encouraging Victorian schools to sign up for a new challenge that will multiply opportunities for students to strengthen and test their financial literacy skills.
Member for Melton Steve McGhie today celebrated the new Financial Literacy in Practice – or FLIP – Challenge, which will bring a practical, real-world focus to financial literacy education in the classroom.
The challenge is open to all Victorian primary and secondary students as part of the Mathematical Association of Victoria’s annual Maths Talent Quest, and will see students challenged to ‘flip’ everyday financial situations and decisions from risky to rewarding.
Students can enter the challenge as individuals, groups or a whole class and select their own investigation topic based on their personal interests.
Topics can relate to financial literacy in everyday life – like buying a pet, planning a holiday, exploring household costs or setting up a small business, or broader, more complex societal issues like the cost of climate change or blockchain technologies, or comparing electric and combustion engine vehicles.
Through their investigations, students will be encouraged to formulate big questions, make and test hypotheses, collect and analyse data, and explain and justify their results.
The investigations will be judged by the Mathematical Association of Victoria, and the top investigations across each category will be entered into the National Maths Talent Quest.
Financial literacy gives students a deeper understanding of economic and financial concepts that allow them to make effective decisions for themselves and others, both now and into the future.
All Victorian government schools are required to deliver financial literacy education as part of the Victorian Curriculum, through the Economics and Business and Mathematics learning areas.
The Labor Government has banned banks and financial institutions from delivering banking programs in Victorian government schools, replacing them with quality programs to improve students’ financial skills without banks’ agendas being pushed onto children – with new, expert-led teaching resources introduced to schools in 2021.
The Maths Talent Quest has been running each year since 1982, and schools are encouraged to register students or find out more about the FLIP Challenge by visiting www.mav.vic.edu.au.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Education James Merlino
“Financial literacy education isn’t just about money and how to get rich quick, it’s about teaching students how to make great economic decisions for life – as well as key life skills like tax, superannuation and the role of the markets and innovation.”
Quotes attributable to Member for Melton Steve Steve McGhie
“I’m encouraging every school and student in Melton to get involved in the FLIP challenge, growing their financial literacy skills and learning about the real-life impact of economics in our world.”
