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Summary
- The Victorian government has set a date for removing Dollarmites and other associated banking programs from the school curriculum, effective from term one in 2021.
- Following the Australian Education Union and Choice’s urgent request to remove similar courses, Victorian Education Minister James Merlino confirmed the government’s decision over the weekend.
- ASX 200 player Commonwealth Bank’s project, Dollarmites was found to be biased towards the information brought to the children, precisely when it came to offering low-interest rates to kids in participating schools.
The state of Victoria will ban all banking-related courses in state schools starting from next year, including the infamous Dollarmites.
The so-called low-quality programs, which were previously run by banks, will be substituted with on-school financial plans to teach children about fair money values.
Almost two-thirds of all public schools in Victoria are enrolled in the new curriculum, which dates back to 2019.
Out of all banking projects, the ASX 200 player, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA) delivered Dollarmites, a notorious plan that was supposed to introduce kids to the world of finance. The CBA had also paid around A$400,000 to schools in Queensland, promoting the same course for the younglings.
Victorian Education Minister James Merlino cited a recent research about such initiatives, saying Dollarmites and other banking courses did not add any significant knowledge to Victorian scholars.
On the contrary, they promoted individual banks in a biased way, persuaded children to join banks from a young age, presented the meaning of credit cards inappropriately, and offered “low” interest rates if children decided to join the bank.
Dollarmites Activities (Image Source: Commonwealth Bank)
Last year, the Australian Security and Investments Commission (ASIC) conducted preliminary research in September, finding almost no gained knowledge about the monetary system among Victorian children.
Who proposed getting rid of Dollarmites?
Both the Australian Education Union and an independent group Choice have requested to scrap Dollarmites and other related contents from Victorian public schools.
Choice, a consumer advocacy group, found that an estimated 46 per cent of Australians open their first banking accounts with the Commonwealth Bank, while 34 per cent are still holding that holding on to that account.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education has recognised an urgent need for educating younger children about money-saving, especially in the wake of COVID-19 causing severe economic damage.
According to Mr Merlino, several monetary courses are being taught across kindergarten, primary, and high school children up to year 10.
What did CBA have to say?
The CBA spokesperson expressed disappointment over the state government’s decision, saying that getting rid of Dollarmites will impact children negatively, as well as their families and volunteers that contributed to the program, and school communities.
The bank expects to lose A$4 million of investments that went towards more than 500 participating schools.
Will the Victorian government keep educating kids about money?
Even though Victoria is the first Australian state to ban Dollarmites, the educational sector will discuss with a team of monetary experts on how to deliver such complex information to children. The current plan is to provide education about tax and how to dodge scams concerning the financial matter.
Mr Merlino added that kids living in Victoria deserve to get unbiased financial facts about what future awaits rather than being exposed to profit-oriented banks, which are potentially targeting new clients.
