Hayes pupil persuades her school to ‘get in the experts’

Guru Nanak Sikh Academy | Hillingdon Today
Guru Nanak Sikh Academy in Hayes

The Head Girl of a Hayes school is helping fellow student’s master money after persuading her teachers to tackle financial education.

Dilmeet Kapoor, 16, wanted to create a project to help students at Guru Nanak Sikh Academy get a head start on the real world of budgeting, bills and debt. However, she discovered it is not compulsory in Sixth Forms.

After finding MyBnk, a charity who deliver specialist workshops, she made her pitch to ‘bring in the experts’ and this month they armed students with key money skills.

According to the Money and Pensions Service, less than half of young people in the UK have received any form of financial education. This is despite them being the most susceptible to scams and taking the hardest economic hit of the pandemic.

Dilmeet said: “We’ve seen our families struggle with finances in the pandemic. Young people need to know about money so we can be prepared for anything. I don’t want to stress or rely on anyone! I never thought I would need to look at the features of bank accounts but now I’m getting different ones for when I go to uni to suit my needs. And it’s crazy I didn’t know the different between APR and AER! Schools should definitely incorporate MyBnk for Sixth Forms and have form tutors present to bring in their own personal experiences. Financial education is a huge priority. We’re making big decisions on uni and apprenticeships and are going to be living on our own in just a few months”.

The Allan & Gill Gray Philanthropy Foundation are funding MyBnk programmes across London for 5 to 25-year-olds in schools and youth organisations.

MyBnk CEO, Guy Rigden, said: “Every young person has the right to a meaningful financial education, especially our teenagers who are heading out to the world with little to no knowledge of how to manage their money or avoid scams. It’s so encouraging to see students like Dilmeet fight for her and her peers financial future. We know teachers are under pressure and timetables are tight but we can make money work for young people”.