A selected group of tertiary tutors will be heading back to school themselves to brush up on their financial knowledge.
Visa is paying for 15 tutors from Whitireia Polytechnic in Wellington to attend an advanced Massey University course aimed at teaching them the skills they need to teach financial literacy to others.
The three-year pilot programme stems from research which found that less than half of tutors providing financial literacy education have received specific training or professional development.
Retirement Commissioner Diana Crossan says the programme is the first of its kind in New Zealand and its benefits should be far reaching.
She says New Zealand is unlikely to get financial education as a major new project right through from age five to the end of tertiary education, although some high schools add it as a special separate subject.
Ms Crossan says in many places it's about embedding it in training, for example at tertiary level it could be in nursing, trades or pre-employment courses.
She says she doesn't have any problem with a corporate funding the programme, because Visa has worked closely with the Retirement Commission and the course is being developed and taught independently by Massey University.
