DOES HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION ENHANCE THE FINANCIAL LITERACY?

The development of new technologies, changes in the functioning of the economy in national and international space, growth in the financial sector place increasing pressure on the ability referred to as financial literacy. The need to increase financial literacy is stressed, especially in conditions of the transition economy where is a part of the transformation process to the market system. Based on the thirty years of experiences, it can be stated that this ability depends more than a systematic preparation on the practical experience. Our research aims to find out if and how does the level of financial literacy increase during their high school studies. The research we conducted at an eight-year grammar school. The methodology was based on the questioning of the three student groups: The first group were the students of the second class, the second group were the students of the fifth class, and the third group were the students of the eighth class of the grammar school. The questionnaire contained a set of four questions-model situation based on similar research (Belas et al., 2016) but modified concerning the conditions of grammar school. The results did not confirm the higher level of the financial literacy of upper-class students of the grammar school. The level of financial literacy does not change during the secondary school study. However, the results of the questioning we must not overestimate in their communicative ability financial literacy is a result not only of secondary school studies. Limitation of the results lies in the number of respondents and only one type of secondary school and also in the model situation, which tests the students' ability to make financial decision. The results can be an incentive for further research. It could aim to find out the role of the practical experiences and life experiences in the financial literacy increasing or the influence of other factors, for example, family backgrounds, residence, age, etc.