Tories call for school debt lessons

Debt awareness teaching should begin at the age of 11 with financial education lessons forming part of the school curriculum, the Conservative party has claimed.

Shadow chancellor George Osbourne said that children should be taught about handling money between the ages of 11 and 18, with exams set to test their learning.

Speaking at the party's debt summit, Mr Osbourne noted that Britain's personal debt was increasing by one million pounds every four minutes.

He said that insolvencies were up, bankruptcies were up and the numbers of people struggling to cope were up.

It wasn't just a problem for those caught up in rising debts, he added, it was a potential problem for everyone.

Individuals, as well as government and lenders had a role in tackling debt levels, he said, and should take into consideration the future consequences of spending and borrowing.

He added that for most people, debts were manageable, as people borrowed and saved at different moments in the cycle of their lives.