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Abstract
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Before
Financial literacy or competency refers to the ability to understand and apply financial knowledge, skills, and attitudes to make informed decisions and promote personal financial well-being. Despite growing global interest in financial education, empirical studies focusing on upper primary students remain limited. Moreover, recent studies have shown that Hong Kong youths’ financial literacy levels are unsatisfactory and financial education in local schools remains fragmented and insufficiently integrated into the formal curriculum. To address these gaps, the present study aims to develop upper primary students’ financial capabilities by providing three types of financial education curriculum models for Hong Kong upper primary students.
A randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted with Hong Kong students in Primary 4 to 6. Participants in the intervention groups received structured financial education programs delivered in comprehensive or condensed version over one or three year(s). Schools were randomly assigned to one of four groups: (a) T1 – a three-year comprehensive version curriculum; (b) T2 – a one-year condensed version of the curriculum T1; (c) T3 – a one-year condensed curriculum developed based on developed by the organization other than that of T1 and T2; and (d) Control group – no treatment or intervention. In addition to evaluating the impact of different designed curriculum models, the study also plans to examine the heterogeneity of treatment effects across different socioeconomic backgrounds.
This study is expected to contribute to the existing literature on financial literacy education, particularly for the underexplored upper primary age group. The findings are also expected to offer practical insights for future policy development and curriculum implementation in Hong Kong.
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After
Financial literacy or competency refers to the ability to understand and apply financial knowledge, skills, and attitudes to make informed decisions and promote personal financial well-being. Despite growing global interest in financial education, empirical studies focusing on upper primary students remain limited. Moreover, recent studies have shown that Hong Kong youths’ financial literacy levels are unsatisfactory and financial education in local schools remains fragmented and insufficiently integrated into the formal curriculum. To address these gaps, the present study aims to develop upper primary students’ financial capabilities by providing three types of financial education curriculum models for Hong Kong upper primary students.
A cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) is being conducted with Hong Kong students in Primary 4 to 6. Participants in the intervention groups received structured financial education programs delivered in comprehensive or condensed version over one or three year(s). Schools were randomly assigned to one of four groups: (a) T1 – a three-year comprehensive version of the curriculum; (b) T2 – a one-year condensed version of the curriculum T1; (c) T3 – an alternative one-year condensed curriculum developed currently existing in the market; and (d) Control group – no treatment or intervention. Main outcomes are increases in students’ financial competence, attitudes, behaviors, and economic preferences.
In addition to evaluating the impact of the different curriculum models, the study also plans to examine the heterogeneity of treatment effects by students’ socioeconomic backgrounds.
This study is expected to contribute to the existing literature on financial literacy education, particularly for the underexplored upper primary age group. The findings are also expected to offer practical insights for future policy development and curriculum implementation in Hong Kong.
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Last Published
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May 21, 2025 02:24 PM
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June 18, 2025 04:42 AM
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Intervention (Public)
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Before
As outlined in the abstract, this study includes three different financial education programmes: T1, T2, and T3. Programmes T1 and T2 are primarily developed by organization A. The primary difference between them is that T1 is a comprehensive three-year curriculum, while T2 is a condensed one-year version. The third programme, T3, is a one-year curriculum designed by organization B in Hong Kong. Although the content and duration vary across the three programmes, all treatments share the common goal of enhancing financial literacy or competency among Hong Kong students in Primary 4 to 6. All programmes are delivered within the school setting to ensure consistency in implementation and context.
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After
As outlined in the abstract, this study includes three different financial education programmes: T1, T2, and T3. Programmes T1 and T2 are primarily developed by organization A. The primary difference between them is that T1 is a comprehensive three-year curriculum, while T2 is a condensed one-year version of the same curriculum content. The third programme, T3, is a one-year curriculum designed by organization B in Hong Kong. Although the content and duration vary across the three programmes, all treatments share the common goal of enhancing financial literacy or competency among Hong Kong students in Primary 4 to 6. All programmes are delivered within the school setting to ensure consistency in implementation and context.
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Primary Outcomes (End Points)
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Financial competency (e.g., financial knowledge and skills, financial attitudes and motivation, financial behaviors)
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Financial competency (e.g., financial knowledge and skills, financial attitudes and motivation, financial behaviors), economic preferences (e.g. risk- and time preferences)]
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Experimental Design (Public)
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A randomized controlled trial (RCT) design was planned to examine the impact of different programmes (or treatments) on the financial competency of upper primary students in Hong Kong. Specifically, a school-level cluster RCT was employed, with all registered schools randomly assigned to the respective experimental conditions described above. All participants will be invited to complete pre- and post-tests aligned with the intervention timeline. In addition, classroom observations and semi-structured interviews are planned to supplement the quantitative data and provide deeper insights into the intervention effects.
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After
A cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) design was planned to examine the impact of different programmes (or treatments) on the financial competency of upper primary students in Hong Kong. Specifically, a school-level cluster RCT was employed, with all registered schools randomly assigned to the respective experimental conditions described above. All participants will be invited to complete pre- and post-tests aligned with the intervention timeline. In addition, classroom observations and semi-structured interviews are planned to supplement the quantitative data, enabling insights into the possible causal mechanisms behind the treatment effects.
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Planned Number of Clusters
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around 40 schools
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around 52 schools (estimated coverage; actual number of analysable observations may vary due to implementation realities)
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Planned Number of Observations
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around 4000 students or above
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around 8,000 students (estimated coverage; actual number of analysable observations may vary due to implementation realities)
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Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
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Each of the four groups—T1, T2, T3, and the control group—included approximately 10 participating schools
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4 pure control schools, 12 delayed start schools, 12 schools assigned to T1, 12 schools assigned to T2, 12 schools assigned to T3. (estimated coverage; actual number of analysable observations may vary due to implementation realities)
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