A Most Excellent Idea

Kim and I were talking a while back about what is currently taught at school, and the skills that our children will leave school with. We both thought that there was a gap in current education, between what they are taught, and what skills they need to make their way in life. Perhaps there should be room made in the curriculum for 'life skills' such as budgeting and home management, and maybe even career planning, application form filling, interview skills etc. Funnily enough, the Education Guardian has noticed that we are not alone, at least in one of these areas: -

Parents would prefer their children to be taught how to handle their finances rather than some of the more traditional subjects, according to research published today.
The majority of those who responded to a survey by the Association of Investment Trust Companies (AITC) ranked personal finance lessons below the core subjects of English, maths, science and languages, but above history, geography, religious studies and arts subjects.
More than half of the 2,424 people who responded to the YouGov survey, particularly men, said they would be in better financial shape today if they had received advice at school.

apparently some action is being planned, : -

To do this, the FSA is working with the Personal Finance Education Group (pfeg) on a new initiative - Learning Money Matters - which will help teachers plan lessons and schemes of work across the curriculum (such as in maths, citizenship and other personal, social and health education classes) and organise training for teachers
The FSA/pfeg scheme will target 4,000 secondary schools over the next five years, and is backed by local education authorities, voluntary and community groups and business.