Tax enters the classroom
Tax has finally broken into the classroom with the news that school children will face questions on the UK's tax system as part of their 'Citizenship' GCSE exams.
Every stage four pupil will now have to understand how tax is raised and spent as part of the core syllabus from September this year.
‘We are naturally pleased that tax will be on pupils’ timetables, but if tax is to be brought into the classroom, it has to be done in a lively and practical way,’ warned John Whiting, president of the Chartered Institute of Taxation.
This summer the CIoT will launch a teaching pack aimed at 14 to 16 year-olds which will cover what tax is and why it is raised, as well as the differences between indirect and direct taxation.
The pack will even included advice for pupils considering a career in tax.’We quickly realised that teachers would need support in the tax section and are delighted to sponsor this important project to help them,’ Whiting said.
Don Reynolds, a teacher at Barnet College, north London, said: ‘This is a real opportunity to integrate the issues faced every day by individuals and businesses with the practical need for class based materials.’