Children will learn about managing finances with maths lessons on how their Child Trust Funds work, as part of a drive to encourage take-up of the government-funded savings scheme.

The first children to benefit from the funds, introduced in 2002 to provide a savings voucher worth £250 to every child at birth, are now starting school.

But ministers have been disappointed about the low take-up of the scheme, and hope to boost interest by reaching out to children instead. Recent research suggested that six in ten parents are failing to take advantage of a facility on the scheme that enables them to pay in extra money.

Teaching materials focusing on Child Trust Funds will form part of an £11.5 million package to improve financial education in primary and secondary schools, with lessons on interest rates and how to open bank accounts.

Ed Balls, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, said that it was “never too early” for children to start thinking about money.

“We want to ensure that every child, no matter what their background, has the financial skills to achieve whatever they want in life,” he said. “The Child Trust Fund provides children with a financial head start and through the extra funds announced today we plan to use it to make personal finance real and tangible in the classroom.

“By the time the first children with a Child Trust Fund leave school, they will have the skills and confidence to manage their money well.

“It is vital children understand how maths is relevant to everyday issues like opening a bank account, shopping and saving.”

Kitty Ussher, a Treasury Minister, added that financial understanding was “a key life skill” for children to master.

“The skills they will learn in class, combined with the experience of having their own savings product, will better equip them to avoid financial problems in later life,” she said.

Gordon Brown set up Child Trust Funds during his time as Chancellor with the aim of making sure that every child has access to a financial asset when they turn 18.

Parents open the account for their child with the help of a £250 voucher from the Government to start it off. The Government then makes further payments of £250 into all accounts when children reach the age of 7. Poorer families receive extra payments.

Nearly three million Child Trust Funds have now been opened. But figures published last month by the Nationwide Building Society suggested that 60 per cent of parents are failing to top up the funds with their own contributions.

David Laws, the Liberal Democrat spokesman for children, schools and families, said: “This answer shows that even the Government admits that the money poured into the Child Trust Fund won’t make the slightest difference to inequality for well over a decade.

“The Child Trust Fund should be scrapped and the money should be used where it would really make a difference – helping youngsters in the earliest years of their education.”

Times recommends

• Undergraduates to get 'consumer rights'
• Schoolgirls think cosmetic surgery is normal
• Lying parents may face court over school places