LEYTE 5th District Representative Carl Nicolas Cari filed a measure that aims to teach the youth financial literacy.

House Bill 417 or the proposed Youth Financial Capability and Literacy Act mandates the Department of Education to integrate financial literacy education into the curriculum of public elementary and secondary schools.

Under the measure, the DepEd shall develop a curriculum for financial education, provide guidance and technical assistance to both public and private elementary and secondary schools and conduct monitoring and evaluation of the impact of financial literacy education on students’ understanding of financial literacy concepts.

“Financial education is how youth can learn these skills through a variety of resources,” Cari said in his explanatory note.

He added that low-income people are more likely to be financially illiterate since they often do not have access to reliable financial data.

“With this level of illiteracy, children from low-income families run the risk of becoming victims of scams or budols — high-interest loans and mounting debt as adults,” he said.