The Scottish Government has announced that all schoolchildren will be taught to manage their finances.

Primary school pupils in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth already benefit from a number of local initiatives, however the new system will see money management embedded seamlessly into the numeracy section of the curriculum.

Geraldine Fleming, head teacher of St Mary's Primary School, Seafar, spoke about the strong programme of financial education which already runs at her school.

She said: "Last year we introduced a book called On The Money which contains short stories and a number of guidelines. A number of well known authors have contributed to it. It raises awareness of financial matters and decisions about money. This year we're actually going to have a financial education week.

"The children can learn about buying and selling because we operate a fairtrade tuck shop in the school and the children can get involved in that."

A spokesman for North Lanarkshire Council added: "A comprehensive debt awareness programme for secondary age pupils is available delivering vital education on the issues of debt. For primary schools the McMunnies programme is in place to raise awareness of the problem of debt. This was launched in Abronhill Primary School and is in the process of being rolled out to all of our primaries."

Education secretary Fiona Hyslop announced the plans on October 5, describing the success of financial education as "critical" to Scotland's future.

She said: "Ensuring our young people have a strong understanding of financial and money management skills is critical - particularly at this time of credit crunch uncertainty and change. That's why we are now moving to ensure the new curriculum gives every pupil the personal finance skills they need to prosper.

"We need to make sure that no child misses out and every school in Scotland offers the high quality financial education our young people need."