The Gap Between Classroom and Real Life: Why We Need Practical Financial Education Now

Financial knowledge is one of the most important skills in an era where most things revolve around money. Unfortunately, the educational system does not talk much about it or give realistic practical life lessons on creating, building, and growing wealth. I've learned more about money in life than I've learned in school. Education only promises us a future and gives us guidance on better decisions to make, but life walks us through the lesson until we see every reality, then make the decision for ourselves. That's the gap between the two: one teaches us, and the other gives us practical lessons.

Personally, I've made a lot of bad decisions with money, and I've learned from each of the mistakes I've made. As a child, I was fortunate to have an aunty who always sent money home. She was living outside the country and never failed to remember home when she could. At that very young age, I believed the opportunity wouldn't end, that there would always be money. So I lavished every kobo that came in, believing very soon another one would come, and it did come, and this made me believe the moment would last forever. That was the first mistake I made about money: believing it would always be there because I had it in abundance.

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With time, I realized money has wings; it doesn't stay forever, especially when not invested wisely. The money ceased coming, and I went broke with no investment that yielded profit for me. But my lesson didn't end there. Aside from the fact that we invest, knowledge before investment is good. It saves us losses and helps us make better decisions. This is where education comes in—the browsing for information. I've made wrong investments with no adequate information, and all of them were liquidated. When investing, do so with some information. One wrong piece of information could cost one a fortune, and one shouldn't be greedy with gains; you may lose everything out of greed.

I think schools should incorporate practical financial knowledge where students are given a platform to invest in real-time and learn the lessons in between. Students should be taught how to invest, build, and grow wealth through practical knowledge and not just theoretically. This would help strengthen the educational system and also graduate students who are competent to face society.