'If we taught finance basics in school': Zerodha's Nithin Kamath takes cue from MP Tejasvi Surya

Zerodha CEO Nithin Kamath on Friday said finance basics must be taught in school. His tweet was inspired by BJP MP Tejasvi Surya's passionate appeal to Centre to consider making financial literacy a part of the school and college education system.

"I still remember the formula for the area of a circle or that CH3OH is Methanol from school. Similarly, If we taught finance basics in school, like why start investing early, inflation, insurance, retirement planning, etc. These lessons will be helpful throughout life," tweeted Kamath. 

Raising the issue during Zero Hour in Lok Sabha, he said the basic concepts and money management skills like investment, savings, retirement planning, mutual funds, cost of money and rate of return need to be taught to students right at the school or college level.

The money management skills will help them plan their “financial life” properly when they enter the job market, he said.

Most importantly, it will prevent a lot of people from falling prey to fraudulent get-rich-soon schemes, dubious cooperative banks and such debt traps, he added.

Kamath also thanked Surya for raising the issue in Parliament and also said Zerodha has the experience of running Zerodha Varsity, which can be of a lot of help for India's Ministry of Education.

"Thanks, @Tejasvi_Surya, for bringing this up at the parliament. We have the experience of running @ZerodhaVarsity, amongst the largest free educational platforms on financial education. We (@karthikrangappa) would love to help @EduMinOfIndia in any way," Kamath tweeted.

“A large number of young Indians are entering the job market for the first time. They are also entering the middle class for the first time,” Surya said. However, a large number of young Indians are not equipped with important money management skills as financial literacy is not part of the country’s formal school education system, he added.

“The Ministry of Education must consider introducing financial literacy as a part of the formal school and college education system so that young Indians who are entering the job market for the very first time are equipped with very important life skills and they can navigate their financial life in a more effective manner,” the BJP MP demanded.

Zerodha's customers, revenue and profits have grown five times since March 2020, when Covid-19 had hit, said Kamath recently.

Kamath stated that certain factors have helped their growth. "One is the phenomenal bull market in India. Developments such as eKYC, online digital signatures, and UPI turned the largely offline industry into a truly online, paperless one, enabling mass participation. And for us specifically, adoption via word-of-mouth from our customers."