Professional paper
https://doi.org/10.38190/ope.10.1.2
Financial literacy - one of the cornerstones of entrepreneurial education
Martina Primorac Krmpotić
; Europska poslovna škola Zagreb
Abstract
The fact that the adult Croatian citizens are severely indebted and the youth is financially illiterate, created the need for financial education. OECD-a PISA 2012 international research showed that Croatian fifteen-year-olds do not know how to make a sound financial decision or plan their future. Various research studies conducted in the Republic of Croatia indicated a very low average rate of financial literacy, the lowest being recorded among the population younger than 19. The research ubiquitously measures three basic categories: financial knowledge, financial conduct and attitude toward money. The results show that the finances are not discussed either in the family circle or in school or at university. Basic financial education is not a part of the curriculum at either of the educational levels. Consequently, young people do not know how to estimate potential risks and meet the challenges of the financial market, which leads to making bad business decisions, profit decrease and debts. Trying to change that situation, the School of Hotel Management and Tourism in Zagreb has implemented Financial Literacy as an elective school subject in the third and the fourth year curriculum, in accordance with two documents issued by the Government of the Republic of Croatia (Decision on Implementing Interdisciplinary and Cross-Curricular Topics of Civic Education in Primary and Secondary Schools and National Strategic Outline of Financial Literacy of Consumers for the Period between 2015 and 2020). This paper encompasses the expectations of students who recognized the value of the subject matter, describes the educational process and learning methods used in extracurricular activities: visiting financial institutions. The paper also outlines the modular structure of the school subject curriculum, in accordance with Decision on Implementing Interdisciplinary and Cross-Curricular Topics of Entrepreneurship in Primary and Secondary schools, evaluation methods and comparative results of the survey conducted among the students who attend Financial Literacy classes and the students who do not.
Keywords
financial literacy; education for entrepreneurship; elective school subject; secondary school
Hrčak ID:
239708
URI
Publication date:
24.6.2020.
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