The Labour Party on Sunday announced they would make it compulsory to teach financial literacy at schools from 2025.
The intention behind the regulation was to address the low levels of money and budgeting skills among school leavers in New Zealand.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said financial skills were too important to be left to chance.
He said teaching financial literacy would start at primary schools and be taught mainly through maths and social sciences in secondary schools.
"All young people will leave school with a core knowledge of saving, budgeting, banking, borrowing, bills, taxes, KiwiSaver, mortgages and insurance.
"We’re setting kids up with core skills that’ll teach them how to save for a home or their retirement; or become the innovators and entrepreneurs of the future."
King’s High School rector Nick McIvor said many schools already taught financial literacy and it was a good idea to provide real-world relevant examples in numeracy, commerce and life skills.
He said it would be a good fit with maths and social science but may be suitable elsewhere too.
"The main thing would be for it to come from what was going to be taught anyway — not to be an entirely new and complex programme or course of study, added on."
The expectations on teachers would need to be determined carefully with parameters set cautiously, he said.
"Financial literacy could be a massive area to try to address or navigate in school if done properly.
"There should be a place for those who work in finance or financial education from outside schools to offer advice, instruction and resources."
Education Minister Jan Tinetti said schools would have flexibility as to how they delivered the programme.
However, there would be essential learning outcomes at the end of different year levels.
She said an important part of the plan was to ensure teachers felt they had the necessary skills and resources.
"This won’t be an extra demand on teachers, rather it will make sure they have what they need, including access to existing programmes and partnerships and support through the newly established curriculum centre at the Ministry of Education," Ms Tinetti said.
