New financial literacy curriculum approved
Text: Kristof De Witte
This week, the Flemish parliament voted in favor to accept the new curriculum, which includes financial literacy education. As in any education system, a curriculum is based on meetings with all stakeholders who define what is important. While the Parliament determines the key competences, the education providers decide on how these key competences could be attained. Therefore, the key competences serve as minimum attainments that should be reached by the majority of the students.
Since September 1, 2019, the Flemish secondary education system introduced the concept of ‘Basic Literacy’. These are minimum attainments that should be reached by all individual students. Although the key competences focus on the average student, the basic literacy focuses on the individual student. The financial literacy curriculum in the first cycle of secondary education also includes similar ‘Basic Literacy’ goals.
From September 2018 till May 2019 a steering committee, organized by the Ministry of Education, developed financial literacy goals for the second and third cycle of secondary education. These curriculum goals are now approved by the Flemish parliament and will become part of the curriculum from the academic year 2021/2022 onwards. In contrast to the first cycle of secondary education, there are no basic competences defined (such that the attainments will have to be reached at group level, rather than for each individual student). As is the case for the first cycle, all secondary education students, irrespective of the education track, will be involved in the financial literacy curriculum.
The Flemish education providers are now designing how the curriculum goals will be implemented in schools. As also various other curriculum goals have been changed, there is a lot of discussion today whether all of the new curriculum goals are feasible to reach in 32 hours a week. The debate has been started by the private catholic education provider, who asked for hearings in the Flemish parliament. This debate is likely to be continued in an upcoming ‘news item’.