Financial Literacy of Public Secondary School Teachers in San Francisco District, Camotes Island, Cebu, Philippines

Abstract

Financial literacy is the combination of knowledge about financial, credit, and debt management necessary to make informed, financially responsible decisions—choices that are integral to everyday life. This study assessed the extent to which financial literacy is manifested among public school teachers in the San Francisco District, San Francisco, to formulate a personal finance primer for public school teachers. This study employed a descriptive-correlational research design to assess the extent to which financial literacy is manifested among public secondary school teachers in the San Francisco District, San Francisco, Camotes, Cebu, particularly at Camotes National High School, Cabonga-an National High School, and Sta. Cruz National High School. The research participants were composed of one hundred fifty (150) teachers from the total population of two hundred forty-six (246) and assigned to these three (3) national high schools in the San Francisco district. The research participants were randomly selected.  The research participants were randomly selected. This study used the researcher-made survey tool with two parts. The first part pertains to the demographic profile, and the second part consists of items about the level of manifestation of financial literacy.  The Cronbach's Alpha value of 0.885 shows that the self-made survey questionnaire was reliable for final administration. Frequency count and percentage, weighted mean, Chi-square test of independence, and Independent T-test were used for data analysis. This research adhered to the ethical principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, and autonomy.

In terms of the respondents' profile, more of them were aged 24 to 32 years old, bachelor’s degree holders, had been in the teaching profession for 1 to 5 years, and earned a net take-home pay of Php 20,001.00 to Php 30,000.00 per month. The majority of the public secondary school teachers in the San Francisco District, Camotes, Cebu, were females, married, with salary grades between 11 and 12, and relied solely on their income without additional sources. The public secondary school in the San Francisco District, Camotes, Cebu, moderately demonstrated financial literacy in terms of budgeting, spending, and credit and debt management (moderate financial literacy), but less in savings and investing (less financial literacy). There is no significant relationship between respondents' profiles and the extent to which they demonstrated financial literacy in terms of budgeting, savings, investing, spending, and credit and debt management. There is no significant difference in the extent to which they manifested financial literacy in terms of budgeting, savings, investing, spending, and credit and debt management. Therefore, the public secondary school teachers in the San Francisco District, San Francisco, Camotes Island, Cebu exhibited limited knowledge about the appropriate management of their financial resources, predominantly from their salaries. They often experience budget deficits and borrow from various financial institutions. This financial struggle usually follows a cycle in which they will use their current income to pay off their debt. Hence, it is suggested that public secondary school teachers will adopt the proposed personal financial primer as a guide in managing their income appropriately.