"When Prices Rise, What Happens to My Allowance?"... How Far Has Economic Education Come? [Essential! Financial Education]⑤

Early Economic and Financial Education Aimed at Policy Promotion
Importance of Education Increased After IMF and Card Crisis
Financial Subject to Be First Introduced in Schools Next Year

Expansion of economic and financial education is a recurring topic. Since the 1990s, following events such as the 1997 foreign exchange crisis, the 2003 credit card crisis caused by excessive issuance, and the 2008 global financial crisis, economic and financial education began to gain attention. Recently, voices calling for further expansion of economic and financial education have continued after experiencing incidents like the 2019 private equity fund scandals involving derivative-linked funds (DLF), Lime, and Optimus, as well as the Hong Kong H-Index (Hang Seng China Enterprises Index·HSCEI) equity-linked securities (ELS) crisis at the end of last year.

While economic education had been somewhat reflected in social studies subjects, financial education only made its debut in the curriculum around 2010. From next year, financial education will be further strengthened.

Economic Crises Changed Perceptions of Money... “Everyone, Become Wealthy”

The need for economic and financial education was seriously raised after the 1997 foreign exchange crisis, which plunged the national economy into great difficulty, and the 2003 credit card crisis that pushed millions into credit delinquency. During the foreign exchange crisis, many people wondered why the country faced a default. Interest in the economy greatly increased, and newspapers and broadcasters expanded their economic coverage and airtime. Economic newspapers significantly increased their circulation and adopted a 40-page publication system similar to comprehensive daily newspapers.

In particular, the 2001 BC Card advertisement featuring actress Kim Jung-eun shouting, “Everyone, become wealthy,” symbolically showed that perceptions of ‘money’ had completely changed from before. Previously, the perception of ‘money’ was that “it is necessary for living but not noble. It is not something to be actively pursued. Social status and honor are more important than money.” However, economic crises and the resulting large-scale unemployment strongly imprinted the importance of money and financial management on the public.

BC Card's 2001 "Become Wealthy" Advertisement [Image Source=YouTube Video Capture]

During the credit card crisis, the excessive issuance of credit cards led to 3.72 million credit delinquents in 2003, with a significant number of teenagers also becoming credit delinquents. This was the reason for the launch in April of that year of the country’s first private-led educational council, the ‘Youth Financial Education Council.’

Ko Seung-beom, chairman of the Youth Financial Education Council, said, “The credit card crisis, which caused a major social shock, made many people reflect and identify the root cause as the lack of proper financial education from a young age,” adding, “At that time, even using the word ‘money’ was taboo, and we didn’t know what to teach for financial education.” He explained, “A consensus was formed across various sectors of society that systematic and continuous financial education for youth is important to overcome the credit crisis.”

Financial Subjects Introduced into Curriculum for the First Time Next Year

Subsequently, the 2009 revised curriculum introduced financial lessons for the first time in Korea’s educational history. The last unit of the economics subject was supplemented with ‘Economic Life and Finance.’ However, there were twists and turns as the ‘Social Studies’ and ‘Life Economics’ subjects for first-year high school students were abolished and then reinstated.

From next year, with the introduction of the 2022 revised curriculum, high school economics and finance subjects will be subdivided into three. The existing ‘Economics’ subject will be classified as a social studies career elective, and a new social studies integrated elective subject called ‘Finance and Economic Life’ will be established. This is the first case of a finance subject being introduced into the domestic curriculum. Additionally, a liberal arts subject called ‘Humans and Economic Activities’ will be newly offered. In the ‘Finance and Economic Life’ subject, students will learn how to budget, save, and effectively manage credit and risks. The ‘Humans and Economic Activities’ subject aims to increase students’ economic interest through lessons on rational decision-making, entrepreneurship, and sustainable development, offering learning methods connected to real life experiences.

Economic and Financial Experts: “School Education More Active than Before”

Professor Kim Jae-geun of the Department of Social Studies Education at Daegu National University of Education is giving a presentation titled "Economic Education, Diagnosis of the Past 40 Years" at the "2024 Economic Education Conference" held on July 23 in the Global Cooperation Complex, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Jeon Young-joo ange@]

So, what is the current level of economic and financial education in Korea? At the ‘2024 Economic Education Conference’ held from July 23 to 25 at the Global Cooperation Complex in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, related experts gave positive evaluations, stating that economic and financial education is actively taking place. The conference was attended by Kim Yoon-sang, Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance, Park Jae-wan, president of the Economic Education Association, Cho Dong-chul, president of the Korea Development Institute (KDI), and about 100 teachers in economics and social studies, who reviewed the past 40 years of economic and financial education.

On the first day of the conference, Kim Jae-geun, professor of social studies education at Daegu National University of Education, presented on the topic ‘Diagnosis of the Past 40 Years of Economic Education,’ stating, “There are three subjects related to economics and finance in the curriculum. With the full implementation of the high school credit system, students’ choices will increase and the diversity of classes can be expanded.” He analyzed, “In the past, economic and financial education focused on understanding government policies, but as demand for economic and financial education emerged, financial companies and others have appeared as educational actors, making education more active.”

President Park also said in his congratulatory speech, “Early economic and financial education was government-led and mainly targeted public officials,” adding, “Recently, the private sector has massively participated in education, diversifying both the actors and targets of education, and the content has improved not only quantitatively but also qualitatively.”

“A Long Way to Go”… Low Teacher Interest and Gaps Outside the Capital Region

However, some analyses suggest it is still too early to be satisfied. Low interest among frontline teachers in economics and finance is pointed out as an obstacle. Park Chan-jung, a social studies teacher at Gorim Middle School who participated in the conference panel discussion, said, “It is difficult because teachers interested in economics and finance are rare,” adding, “If training or incentives are actively supported, the field could change toward teachers collaborating and developing engaging lessons.”

Professor Park Hyung-joon of Seoul National University’s Department of Social Education also expressed concern, saying, “Although financial subjects will be taught separately from next year with the new curriculum, the biggest problem is that teachers have never properly studied finance at university,” and “Teachers may have little interest in investment because they receive public official or private school pensions.”

A survey on ‘Entrepreneurship and Economic Education Teacher Perceptions’ released by the Korea Economic Research Institute in August found that about 60% of teachers rated their own economic knowledge as low. The proportion who thought they lacked entrepreneurship was also 60.4%, similar to those who rated their economic knowledge as low. This survey was conducted by the Korea Economic Research Institute through the Korea Educational Policy Institute, targeting 1,286 teachers nationwide from elementary, middle, and high schools.

There were also criticisms that school lessons are theory-centered, making it difficult to stimulate students’ interest. Kim Kyung-mo, dean of the College of Education at Gyeongsang National University, who presented on ‘Current Status and Tasks of Korean Economic Education’ on the last day of the conference, said, “Actual lessons focus on concepts and principles. One-sided lectures still dominate,” and suggested, “If economic and financial education aims not to produce so-called little economists but to develop students’ economic problem-solving skills, why not actively introduce program-based learning (PBL)?” PBL refers to a learner-centered teaching and learning method where students develop solutions based on individual and cooperative learning.

Dean Kim further proposed, “Entrepreneurship is a representative topic where PBL can be well utilized.” He explained, “It is not about looking at the biography of a particular successful business owner,” but “providing opportunities in class to experience how a typical entrepreneur might solve problems through mock debates.” He added, “In such entrepreneurship education, student autonomy is important. It should be a student-led class.”

There are also calls to fill the economic and financial education gaps not only for youth but for the entire population. A report titled ‘Diagnosis of the Past 40 Years of Economic Education and Future Responses,’ commissioned by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance in January, pointed out limitations, stating, “Although economic education has achieved external growth over the past 40 years, economic vulnerable groups and financial consumer damages continue to increase.”

Accordingly, there are arguments for strengthening the role of regional economic education centers. These centers serve as learning spaces providing economic education to various local residents, including workers, retirees, people with disabilities, multicultural families, and North Korean defectors. The Ministry of Strategy and Finance operates a total of 16 centers nationwide across various cities and provinces. Kim Tae-hwan, professor of social studies education at Chuncheon National University of Education, stated, “Support is needed to strengthen the substance of regional economic education centers, which were established 20 years ago.”