NCERT brings personal finance to Class 9, but can one chapter build money habits?
Budgeting, saving, investing, insurance, borrowing and income tax are now part of a single Class 9 chapter in CBSE-affiliated schools. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) introduced it in its new Social Science textbook, Understanding Society: India and Beyond – Part 2, released on 28 September.
Titled Managing Your Personal Finances, the chapter introduces personal finance through five pillars: income, budgeting, saving, investing, and protection and risk management.
It begins with familiar situations, such as deciding whether to spend pocket money and festival gifts or save them in a gullak. Everyday examples explain inflation, purchasing power and compounding, including how someone who starts saving ten years earlier can accumulate substantially more than someone who starts later. Students also learn about fixed deposits, bonds, shares and mutual funds, insurance, the true cost of equated monthly instalments (EMIs) and income-tax calculations.
But can one chapter translate this knowledge into lasting money habits?
What already exists?
Financial literacy in Indian schools has traditionally been fragmented, with many concepts taught through commerce, economics and accountancy at higher levels rather than through compulsory mainstream lessons for all students.
NCERT has introduced economic concepts in earlier classes, too. In 2024, its Class 6 Social Science textbook included a theme called Economic Life Around Us, covering needs and wants, work, occupations, markets and exchange. Class 7 extended this theme with chapters on Banks and Magic of Finance, introducing money, banking, savings, borrowing and digital payments, including UPI.
The Class 9 chapter builds on this foundation by focusing on personal financial decisions, from comparing investments and understanding risk to evaluating borrowing costs and calculating income tax.
In the foreword, NCERT director Dinesh Prasad Saklani says the textbook aligns with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023, which emphasise reasoning, responsible citizenship and preparedness for a changing world.
Its inclusion in mainstream Social Science of Class 9 means students who later pursue science or humanities will also encounter financial concepts.
Beyond terminology
V. Pradeep Kumar, visiting professor and career and management consultant, said education should prepare students for everyday challenges, not just examinations. Introducing financial literacy in Class 9 can encourage responsible attitudes towards spending, saving and investment.
However, exposure to concepts does not automatically translate into practical skills.
Kunal Bhakat, a certified NISM and NCFE financial literacy trainer, said the chapter includes useful activities, such as preparing a budget for a new school year. But teachers need sufficient time to explain concepts, conduct exercises and discuss mistakes.
“Without adequate time and continuity, students may learn the terminology without understanding how to apply it in everyday situations,” he said.
If the chapter is treated primarily as an examination topic, students may learn to define compounding or income-tax slabs without knowing how to use these concepts in real life.
What ICSE schools do differently
The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) has published a teacher handbook, Financial Literacy: Integrating Financial Education in school curriculum. It states that financial education should not be treated as a standalone subject, but integrated into the curriculum for Classes VI-X in relevant contexts and in an age-appropriate manner.
For example, in English and other languages, teachers can use suitable articles, stories and reports to introduce selected financial literacy concepts.
The handbook also suggests activities such as role-play, games, case studies, surveys and discussions with experts. Some schools may choose to incorporate a supplementary textbook.
“However, the actual impact of any book or curriculum ultimately depends on how effectively it is implemented in the classroom and how many opportunities students receive for hands-on learning,” Bhakat said.
Parents' role
From a behavioural standpoint, Anand Damani, a behavioural scientist and global speaker, believes teaching money should not be limited to classrooms. Schools should go deeper and gamify learning through the use of tokens. He also highlighted parents’ role in exposing children to money as soon as they begin to develop an understanding of the world around them.
While children need not know their family’s net worth at a very young age, parents should begin by teaching them to see money as an enabler of their dreams and hobbies rather than associating it with status and power, he said.
Financial education becomes more meaningful when children connect classroom lessons to everyday decisions, said Neha Singh, founder of Womoneysta and a certified financial planner whose daughter is in Class 9. The chapter provides a starting point and a structure for discussions around money, she said, but children also need opportunities to see how financial decisions work in practice.
Shopping, she said, can become an exercise in budgeting. Asking a child to choose a birthday gift within a fixed amount introduces the idea of making choices within financial limits.
Singh also uses a digital pocket-money system to encourage independence. She discusses investments held in her daughter's name and is beginning to explain stocks through companies her daughter recognises.
Delhi-based advocate Tanu Dhania gives her son a fixed pocket-money amount, encourages him to save and assigns project-based work for an agreed payment. These experiences introduce the relationship between work, income and financial choices. She said financial literacy is particularly important in a digital environment where children may encounter online spending pressures and other money-related risks.
Singh believes parents' attitudes towards money influence how children learn to manage it.
“We have learned about money on the job but the advantage of having it in school is that it gives a starting point and a structure for parents to have to talk about it,” she said.
Build in stages
Abha Adams, educational consultant and vice-chair of the Ahvaan Trust, said the approach assumes that Class 9 students attend school and have access to money from their parents. For those who are privileged to stay on in school and receive an allowance, budgeting their expenses would be a primary objective.
She also questioned the emphasis on income-tax calculations without first developing a broader understanding of taxation.
“Understanding why we are taxed, what happens with tax payers money, what is the % of taxpayers in the country is prior information that I believe is critical,” she said.
Adams stressed the importance of progression in learning. Introducing several concepts in Class 9 without building on them systematically in earlier classes may not develop deeper understanding, she argued.
Kumar highlighted another challenge: the revised Part 2 textbook was made available to teachers and students in the middle of the academic year.
He said the question is how to do justice to the objective when the book is delayed and teachers have only the remaining part of the academic year to cover it. “Teachers will have less time and teaching may not be very effective,” he said.
He added that financial literacy should not remain theoretical or become another examination-oriented exercise. Students need practical exposure to budgeting, saving, borrowing, digital financial safety and long-term financial planning, supported by real-life examples and age-appropriate activities. The curriculum must also ensure progressive learning as students move from Class 9 to higher classes, he added.
NCERT's new chapter gives students a structured introduction to managing money, but familiarity with financial terms is only the first step. Developing sound money habits requires repeated opportunities to make decisions, compare alternatives and learn from mistakes.
Ultimately, the chapter's value will depend not on how many concepts students recall in an examination, but on whether they can use what they learn to make informed financial decisions.