Lack of financial knowledge is putting Canadians at risk of a debt melt-down like the one experienced recently by Americans, warns a veteran Tri-Cities business education teacher.
Ken Kuhn, who teaches at Terry Fox secondary school and was recently named outstanding business educator by the Western Business Education Association (WBEA), says young people graduating from high school lack money smarts and schools aren't giving them the opportunity to learn them.
While business courses such as accounting are offered at the high school level, enrollment has been dropping as students focus on other priorities, such as retaking math so they can qualify for university, Kuhn says, and consumer education courses that teach about credit cards, interest rates and bank loans are no longer available.
"They're not getting that information," says Kuhn, who has been teaching for 35 years.
The U.S. has been trying to fill that knowledge gap with a program called Jumpstart, which teaches financial literacy to high school students. But American educators only started worrying about the topic after the financial crisis, said Kuhn, and he doesn't want the same thing to happen in Canada.
"They (young people) could be starting business or a family without all the basic skills that they should have."
Kuhn supports the recommendations of a federal task force on financial literacy tabled in February which called on the private and public sector to work together to improve Canadians' financial knowledge. Among the recommendations was a suggestion that public educators fill the financial literacy knowledge gap among students.
According to the task force, which consulted with individuals across the country, Canadians need more knowledge and confidence to make responsible financial decisions to help them meet their personal goals, enhance their quality of life and make Canada more competitive. (See www.financialliteracyincanada.com)
Kuhn is doing his bit by teaching several business education courses at the high school level and is inspiring young people to develop their business acumen and economic knowledge. His courses are practical and down to earth, Kuhn said, and students walk away from his accounting program, for example, knowing software programs for book keeping. He also teaches marketing, office procedures, entrepreneurship, and managed the school store and window displays with his marketing students for many years.
Kuhn said he stays on top of the latest trends in business education by getting involved in associations for business educators. For many years, he was on the executive and chaired the B.C. Business Education Association provincial conference and is the WBEA newsletter editor and will be organizing a conference for that organization in California in 2012.
His extensive involvement in professional organizations gives Kuhn a unique insight into financial literacy programs here and in the U.S. and he hopes to continue to pursue greater opportunities for students locally. On Monday, for example, his school hosted a speaker on financial literacy to teach kids about credit cards, debt, cash flow and investment.
"I just thrive on meeting people and getting new understanding and sharing it with students," Kuhn said.
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