Teach children financial literacy instead of Bible studies

Last week, I stumbled on a video made by the World Economic Forum. It was shared on LinkedIn in January, just as Davos — the annual event that becomes the focus of the world’s attention as the global elite converge on the Swiss small alpine town to discuss world issues — got underway.

The video says that in Denmark, it is mandatory for children to learn to manage their finances, just as it is a given that many Ugandan schools teach religious studies.

From ages 13 to 15, Danish pupils take lessons in financial literacy, defined as the knowledge and skills people need to make sound financial decisions. 

The pupils are taught how to budget and save, how banks and loans operate and how they should exercise their rights as consumers.

The programme was launched in 2015 and has enabled Denmark to attain an impressive financial literacy rate, currently at 73 per cent, one of the highest in the world. New Zealand and Singapore are also teaching financial literacy.

According to the video, only 33 per cent of the global population is deemed financially literate. Financial illiteracy, the video says, leads to wealth inequalities, which are strongly correlated with inequalities in life expectancy.

In Uganda, some parents informally provide financial literacy education to their children, but schools generally do not teach financial literacy. Yet many offer religious studies such as Islamic/Christian Religious Education. The schools teach children about Jesus and encourage them to read the Bible.
Religious people argue that teaching these subjects — and religion in general — is a good thing for our society. 

They say young people need a strong religious upbringing as it has a direct bearing on their morality. In other words, children raised without religion turn out to be immoral and dangerous.

The problem with this argument is that it is not supported by evidence. People do not need religious studies to lead perfectly normal and moral lives. In Denmark, a secular country, corruption is almost non-existent. In religious Uganda, corruption is the order of the day.

Inequalities in life expectancy linked to financial illiteracy mean people in some places die younger and do not realise their potential, let alone contribute to the economic development of their countries.

It is hard to see the real benefits of a child getting to know how Jesus (whom no living person has ever seen) was born/when he resurrected. And telling a child they need to love/worship Allah or the Lord because he takes care of or protects them is demonstrably false.

To understand this, let us look at (arguably) the most important thing for children, teenagers and adults: good health. There is no evidence that good health is provided by Allah or the Lord. 

In fact, people who believe that everything is created by the Lord should be the last to say he is responsible for good health, because cancers and other deadly diseases are supposed to be his handiwork.

Good health relies heavily on the availability of money, and money can be made with the aid of financial literacy.

Given the role money plays in people’s lives on a daily basis, given the fact that countries are taken seriously and respected when they have money, given the fact that even the Lord himself expects and gets money from worshippers in the form of offertory, it is imperative that we should teach children financial literacy.

Money matters are what children are going to deal with and are already dealing with every day. Jesus and Bible studies cannot buy medicine or pay tuition fees.

Musaazi Namiti is a journalist and former Al Jazeera digital editor in charge of the Africa desk
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 @kazbuk