Scott Pape — aka the Barefoot Investor — is one step closer on his mission to help Aussie kids learn practical money skills, with the New South Wales government confirming it will roll out a new financial literacy challenge across schools from next month.
As reported exclusively in the Sunday Telegraph, the government plans to work with the Australian Securities & Investment Commission to develop the challenge using their MoneySmart teaching and learning resources. A pilot program – the first of its kind in the country – is slated to run in NSW schools from next term.
The news comes after years of lobbying by the finance guru, who has created a nation-wide campaign to teach Australian children essential money skills. His mission has been documented in the upcoming Foxtel series Scott Pape’s Money Movement.
In mid-2019, concerned by the lack of financial literacy being taught in schools and the country’s credit card debt, Scott Pape set out to create a new money education program for students. Based on his best-selling books, the Barefoot Money Movement was launched and demand was so huge that one in five Australian schools applied to be part of his pilot program.
Scott is now urging the other state governments to follow NSW’s lead and make the program national.
“I’m super proud that NSW have already committed to launching their own program to tackle this problem,” he said.
“I’m really excited and hope that they (and the other states) incorporate the principles that my Money Movement pilot program has learnt along the way.”
Scott Pape’s Money Movement is a three-part observational documentary that follows behind the scenes as Scott develops his “Money Movement” education program and trials it in pilot schools across the country. Along the way, Scott tackles the big banks’ existing school money programs, and calls on politicians in his ultimate goal of having financial literacy added to Australia’s school curriculum.
The series premieres on Wednesday, June 23 at 8.30pm on Foxtel’s LifeStyle or stream on demand.