Cagayan de Oro City 1st District Rep. Lordan Suan has filed a bill seeking to integrate financial literacy in the senior high school curriculum. House Bill No. 9162, or the Financial Literacy Education bill, seeks to recognize the need to enhance financial literacy in the country to improve the economic well-being of every citizen and society.
In his Explanatory Note, Rep. Suan cited the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) 2021 Financial Inclusion survey, only 2% of Filipinos answered all six basic financial literacy questions correctly. Said survey also revealed that only some adult respondents have little to no idea of computing annual interest rates, and most respondents have a poor grasp on how interest works on savings and the effect of compounding interest.
As proposed under HB 9162, the Department of Education (DepEd) will be tasked to coordinate with the BSP and the Department of Finance (DOF) to develop a financial literacy curriculum for senior high school which shall cover critical aspects of personal finance, including budgeting, saving, investing, understanding credit and debt, insurance, taxes and practical real-world applications.
screenshots from congress.gov.ph
