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OEE: Strengthening financial literacy is imperative

The 83rd Assembly of Representatives of the Hellenic Chamber of Commerce requests the recruitment of more than one hundred teachers in Secondary Education, in order to adequately meet the needs for strengthening financial literacy.

As he mentions, based on the latest ASEP announcement, the number of permanent recruitment of economist teachers in Secondary General Education did not meet the real educational needs, given that it was only 1% of the total. Therefore, in the upcoming 8,586 appointments, recently announced by the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, this event should not be repeated.

In fact, it characterizes this specific need as indisputable and imperative, given that:

1. In the school year 2020 – 2021, 149 economist teachers of the PE80 Economics branch retired, while the permanent appointments were only 51. For the current school year (2021 – 2022) the resignation requests of the economist teachers of the PE80 Economics branch amount to 126 , evidence which proves in the clearest way that the balance in filling the real gaps in economists is negative.

2. The number of recruitment of substitute economist teachers in the PE80 Economics branch in Secondary General Education to cover functional gaps throughout the territory in recent years has been particularly increased, since from 2019 to this year, they reached 1400, which highlights the need for increased recruitment of permanent economics teachers.

3. The number of economics teacher vacancies is expected to increase further due to:
a) the number of retirements that will occur,

b) the Economics course which is taught on a 6-hour basis and is examined in the nationwide exams, in conjunction with the significant increase in students’ preference for the field of Information Technology and Economics in recent years at the General High School (in 2021 the candidates for the Economics Studies orientation and Informatics were 24,508 students out of a total of 75,435 students, i.e. a percentage of 32.48%) and

c) the ever-increasing number of students choosing Vocational Education in recent years and the existence in Vocational High Schools of four (4) specializations related to Economics, which creates new departments every year and therefore more hours to be covered by teachers of the sector PE 80 Economics.

At the same time, the fact that 35.31% of the candidates of the Economics and Informatics Studies Orientation Group wrote below the baseline in the Economics course, while only 23.13% of the candidates received a score of over 18, is deeply troubling.

There is certainly no room for complacency. The strengthening of financial literacy in the education system of our country must take place immediately in the timetables of the school year 2022-2023, with the introduction of the course Principles of Economics in the 2nd High School, a permanent scientific request of the OEE since the existence of an Economic course only in the 3rd Lyceum and only in the Department of Economics & Informatics does not meet the needs of modern society.

Financial illiteracy is an acute social problem and one of the most important challenges of the next day. The strong presence of economic thinking courses at all educational levels, with the appointment of permanent teaching staff of the PE80 Economics branch, will contribute to the acquisition of correct financial behavior. The Economic Chamber of Greece will continue its interventions in this direction.

Source: Capital

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