91% Find Consumer Education Important
Around 91 percent of Estonians consider it necessary to introduce consumer education classes in upper secondary schools, a survey conducted in January by the Institute of Economic Research revealed.
According to the results, around 87 percent of respondents had obtained their primary knowledge of how to act as consumers via the print media, followed closely by television (86 percent) and the internet (75 percent).
Schools, on the other hand, were placed at the very bottom of the ranking list, as they currently offer almost no instruction on the topic.
A majority of the respondents agreed that if consumer education were added to high school curricula, the subject should mostly focus on teaching consumer rights and how to deal with personal money matters.
"Raising consumer awareness in schools would be a positive development, which should be systematic and begin from early childhood, promoting [long-lasting] higher values and not just one-off project ideas,” said Andres Sooniste, director general of the Consumer Protection Board.
The board commissioned the annual survey, which studies the overall consumer protection situation in the country. Around 1,100 people aged 18 to 74 were polled.
Ingrid Teesalu