The air in the classroom felt thick with the usual post-lunch haze, but today, something else hung in the air: the quiet buzz of ambition. It was a Tuesday afternoon, just after Children’s Day, at the Vibgyor High School in Pune, and I was there to observe a session on financial literacy. Not your typical class, you know.
It’s a trend, really. A growing number of young Indians are learning the ropes of saving and growing money, thanks to schools and edtech companies. They’re making money lessons more engaging, and honestly, the kids seem to be eating it up.
I saw it firsthand. The students, ranging from 10 to 14 years old, were huddled around laptops, their faces illuminated by the glow of the screens. They were learning about stocks, mutual funds, and the power of compounding. It was a lot to take in, but they seemed genuinely interested.
One of the students, a young girl named Ananya Sharma, told me, “Before, I just thought money was for spending. Now, I understand how it can work for me.” She was already thinking about investing a small portion of her allowance.
This shift isn’t just happening in Pune. Across India, there’s a push to get kids involved with their finances. Schools are incorporating financial education into their curriculum, and edtech platforms are creating interactive games and simulations to make learning fun. As per reports, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has also been promoting financial literacy in schools.
The tricky part is making it stick. How do you make concepts like inflation and diversification interesting for a kid? That’s where the edtech companies come in, gamifying the whole process. One company, for example, offers a virtual stock market where kids can invest fake money and track their portfolios. It’s a low-risk way to learn the basics, and, from what I could see, it works.
The impact is slowly starting to show. Young investors are emerging, making informed decisions about their money. They’re not just saving; they’re investing, planning for the future. It’s a generational shift, maybe.
It’s still early days, of course, but the enthusiasm is palpable. And maybe, just maybe, this is the start of something big. Or, at least, that’s what it looked like on that Tuesday afternoon in Pune.
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