MBO teachers concerned about student debt
Nearly two thirds of MBO citizenship teachers have students with financial problems in their class. In the four major cities of the Netherlands, this is 82 percent. Citizenship teachers believe that more attention should be paid to financial skills.
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Of the teachers of citizenship at MBO institutions, 64 percent identify students with financial problems. In the four major cities this is 82 percent. Only 16 percent of MBO citizenship teachers believe that their eighteen-year-old students are sufficiently capable of making sound financial choices. That appears from research by the municipalities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the Money Wise platform.
Budget advisor Nibud established six years ago that 37 percent of MBO students over the age of eighteen have one or more debts. At the time, half of the students did not experience this as a problem.
Teachers see the problem
Suzanne Elferink works for Money Wise:
Were you shocked by the results?
"They underline the urgency. Thanks to the Nibud study, we already knew that debt problems among MBO students are serious, although that was a while ago. Now we also know that teachers see and know this. They are very involved."
In the study, a teacher quotes a student's statement: 'The worst that can happen is that I end up in debt restructuring, but I will be out of that after two or three years.' That sounds naive.
"There is certainly naivety. The nasty thing is: such a comment from a peer sticks in the mind. Financial education has to be compensated for. In MBO this is not mandatory, while teachers want more attention for it. They hear the stories about students who take out subscriptions without knowing how long they are committed to it. Or that they forget to report it to the Tax and Customs Administration if they start earning more and therefore run into problems with their health insurance allowance."
One conclusion is also: financial skills in the area of income are well developed, but in the area of expenditure planning much less so. Isn't that a teenager?
"That's the complicated part. You can't blame them entirely. Problems partly arise from the lack of impulse control. That is age-related and of course not exclusive to MBO students. But when they are eighteen, they are legally mature and financially responsible ."
Where are the parents in this story?
"That is always the first question we get: shouldn't this be part of the upbringing? But some parents have debts themselves or do not provide a good financial education for another reason. That circle can be broken if students are given good examples in education . It's about simple basic principles. For example, first put money aside for your fixed costs before you start buying nice things."
Why a BMW per se?
Secondary vocational education teachers also want to learn more, according to your research, for example about money donkeys. What are those?
"That your account is temporarily used for criminal activities. That adolescent brain also plays a role here. You are addressed: do you want to earn 200 euros quickly? All you have to do is provide your account number. But you run enormous risks. If you get caught becomes, you get a criminal record and you can no longer open an account. Sometimes you have to pay the amount that has been transferred through your account, while it has long since been removed from your account."
Your research shows that a money lesson should be close to the student's perception of the world. For example with their dreams 'about a Golf or BMW'?
"A teacher said that. But indeed, many students are interested in stuff. The peer pressure to purchase certain brands is very great. Influencers play a major role. They advertise very effectively because the students identify with them personally. But also that can be a topic of conversation during a money lesson: why a BMW per se?"
Money Wise is an initiative of the Ministry of Finance. In the past, the platform mainly focused – as far as education is concerned – on primary education. Now MBO is added, partly because of the debt problem.
“This research gives us an idea of what is happening at MBO institutions and what teachers want. The good news: there are already a lot of very good materials and guest lessons available. Teachers just need to know where to find it and be given the time to work with it.”
Money wiser divides teaching materials Moneylessons.nl. Since yesterday a new lesson is over money donkeys readily available.
