ANNOUNCEMENTS
Financial literacy is increasingly recognized as a foundational life skill essential for economic empowerment, especially among youth navigating complex digital and financial landscapes. This study evaluates the impact of school-based Financial Literacy Programme implemented in senior secondary schools in Andhra Pradesh, designed to operationalize the goals of India’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and National Strategy for Financial Education (NSFE). The research uses a mixed-method, experimental design to assess changes in students’ financial knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours across five core modules—Money Management, Banking and Insurance, Investment and Inclusion, Taxation, and Consumer Protection.
The findings demonstrate substantial improvement in foundational financial knowledge and behavioural outcomes among intervention students compared to control groups. Students showed stronger budgeting habits, increased savings behavior, and more deliberate spending decisions, with notable gains among female students. Importantly, over 70% of intervention participants reported greater confidence in managing financial decisions, and many began influencing household financial practices, such as opening bank accounts or reducing reliance on informal lending. Despite these positive outcomes, the study highlights persistent gaps in advanced topics like consumer protection, digital financial safety, and investment literacy. Digital behavior showed limited improvement, suggesting the need for greater emphasis on cyber safety and application-based learning. While teachers and schools supported the program’s relevance and integration, challenges such as insufficient training, limited parental involvement, and inconsistent engagement across student demographics constrained deeper impact and scalability. The study further reveals a critical gap in longitudinal evidence, highlighting the need for continued evaluation to assess the sustained impact of such interventions over time.
This research contributes to the growing discourse on inclusive financial education in school systems by evaluating state-level efforts to operationalize NEP 2020’s vision for financial literacy. It offers actionable insights for embedding financial education sustainably in school curricula and underscores the need for inclusive, context-sensitive design to ensure equitable and lasting financial empowerment for India’s next generation.
Keywords: Financial Literacy, NEP 2020, Financial Inclusion, Economic Empowerment, Student Financial Behaviour.
