classromTeachers think kids are being taught nonsense subjects, such as "citizenship", music and religious education, when they should be taught to manage money.

Some 94% of teachers believe that teaching of financial education should be more comprehensive because it is an essential life skill. But only 27% of students say school taught them basic budgeting.

What teachers think

Research from the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) found that only 67% of schools taught kids financial education. Of those, a third of the teachers (33%) don't believe that it is taught to a high enough standard, and two thirds (58%) don't believe enough financial education is being taught.

The research from the CII comes hot on the heels of the House of Commons' report on financial education highlighting a petition of 105,000 signatories calling for financial education to be made a compulsory part of the school curriculum.

What kids think

The CII asked kids too. Its research among 16-18 year olds shows that while 95% have a debit card, one in four don't know what the term 'debit' means. More worryingly, one in five have a store card while one in three don't understand the term 'credit' and 71% don't know the meaning of 'APR'.

With personal finance currently only a non-compulsory component of the Personal, Social, Health and Economic curriculum, the survey sought to understand which other subjects teachers felt were least valuable for students. Teachers cited citizenship, religious education and music. That must have been music to most kids' ears.

Time and expertise

Almost half (45%) of the teachers surveyed believed that financial education is lacking in their school due to too little time and resource to teach the subject, too much other material to cover (38%), and a lack of teacher-specific resources in schools to help them teach the subject (20%.)

Some 15% of teachers also admitted that they lack expertise in the area of financial education, demonstrating a need for external support and resource from experts. A third of teachers (36%) overall said that they would benefit from external expert practitioners to support them teaching financial literacy.

David Thomson, director of policy & public affairs at the CII said: "Our research demonstrates the relatively low profile that financial education has on the curriculum, despite teachers realising its inherent importance as a life skill and one that will arm young people with the necessary skills to navigate these challenging economic times.

"While some teachers have confidence in delivering personal finance education, this is by no means universal. We need to ensure that all teachers who are delivering this subject feel they have the necessary support through external expertise and initiatives such as the CII's Discover Fortunes game, which could assist with not only their pupils' knowledge of financial education but their own teaching methods."

Help is needed

The CII has got it spot on. My kids have to manage their own money and it is a challenge for them. They get no help at school yet spend hours a week forced to sit through RE lessons they hate and music lessons that are either irrelevant to those not interested or too basic for those who already play an instrument.

Kids need to be taught to budget for themselves and about borrowing, rent, mortgages and overdrafts. They need to understand that buy now, pay later deals may add up to paying more. They need to understand the need to for insurance and for saving for a rainy day.

And if the teachers I have met are anything to go by, some of them could definitely do with some professional help on that front too.