What is the need for consumer education?

When you say "consumer education" I assume you are
referring to programs that are meant to help people learn how to be smart consumers. 
This sort of program is very important because it is easy for people to get in financial
trouble by spending too much.  Here in the US, it is so easy to get a credit card, for
example, and then to spend beyond what a person can truly
afford.

An example of this need can be seen in the housing
crisis that helped lead to the financial crash of 2008.  The crisis was caused by people
taking out mortgages that had really bad terms.  The people were not informed enough to
realize that these were really risky mortgages.  As a result, so many of them ended up
owing more on their mortgage than their houses were
worth.

Consumer education can help people make better
financial choices.  This is very important so that people can avoid making choices that
end up putting them badly in debt.