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The UK must end its "anti-math mentality" to help the economy grow, Rishi Sunak will say. The Prime Minister will announce a peer-led review of how to carry out his plan to ensure that all students in England study some form of mathematics until the age of 18, without making A-level mathematics compulsory. In a speech in north London on Monday, he will criticize the "cultural sentiment that it's okay to be bad at maths" which disadvantages children by not equipping them with the analytical skills needed for modern work.
I'm not going to sit back and let this cultural sense that it's okay to be bad at math put our kids at a disadvantage.
The UK remains one of the only countries in the world that does not require children to study mathematics in any form until the age of 18, making it one of the least digitized of the 38 OECD advanced economies.
According to Downing Street, around a third of pupils fail GCSE maths and more than eight million adults have lower math skills than is expected of a nine-year-old.
Mr. Sunak is expected to tell an audience of students, teachers, education experts and business leaders: “We need to change this anti-math mindset. We need to start valuing arithmetic for what it is: a key skill that is as essential as reading.
“I'm not going to sit idly by and let this cultural sense that it's okay to be bad at math put our kids at a disadvantage.
“My campaign to transform our national approach to mathematics is not a pretty thing. It's about changing the way we value math in this country."
The Prime Minister made his first maths pledge at 18 in January, highlighting the importance of numeracy in jobs increasingly backed by data and statistics. He said that might not be achieved in this Parliament.
But critics have accused Sunak of reiterating his ambition to divert attention from an ongoing pay dispute that will see teachers out at the end of this month.
Former foreign minister Sunak will argue that mastering mathematics will help young people in their careers and grow the economy.
“We simply cannot allow poor numeracy to cost our economy tens of billions of dollars a year or leave people twice as likely to be unemployed as those who are good at numeracy.
“We need to fundamentally change our education system so that it gives our young people the knowledge and skills they need, and our businesses need, to compete with the best in the world.”
Teachers and education experts have warned that the policy fails to address major problems in the broader education system, including the already severe shortage of math teachers.
Sunak will say the change will not happen "overnight" as an advisory group including mathematicians, education officials and business representatives is being formed to advise the government.
The exam will look at the core math content students will need to study and whether a new math grade will be required.
Mr. Sunak will say: “We will have to recruit and train math teachers. We will have to figure out how to harness technology to support them.
“And we will have to make sure that this mathematics is added to other subjects, and not instead of them. But today we are taking the first step by identifying the math content that will give our 16-18 year olds the skills they need to progress in life.
It seems an attempt to divert attention from the most pressing problem in education in England, namely the labor dispute.
The Prime Minister will also commit to expanding Maths Centres, where schools and colleges come together to support the teaching of subjects, and to introduce a new fully funded voluntary professional qualification for primary mathematics teachers.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and University Leaders, said that rather than "re-announce vague and poorly thought out policy", Sunak should focus on resolving the pay dispute that has sparked the strike.
« It is difficult to understand because the Prime Minister ressasses are ambitious of maths at 18 ans alors qu'il n'a announced this politique qu'en janvier et sans plus de details sur ce qu'elle implicara nor sur la manière dont elle sera implementation.
“It looks like an attempt to divert attention from the most pressing problem in education in England, namely the labor dispute caused by the erosion of teachers' pay and conditions and the resulting crisis in recruiting and retaining sufficient staff.
"This severe shortage directly undermines the prime minister's ambition, as it means there are not enough maths teachers to meet the existing requirements, let alone extend maths to all pupils up to 18 years of age."
Labor criticized the 'empty promise', with shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson saying: 'Once again the PM needs to show his handiwork - he cannot deliver on this repeated empty promise, no more maths teachers' .
“But after 13 years of failing our kids, the Conservative government is repeatedly missing its target for new math teachers, with math achievement gaps widening and existing teachers leaving en masse.
“The unions don't need a new advisory group to make the right decisions for our children. We will raise the bar in every corner of our country by investing in thousands more teachers, including math teachers, by ending tax breaks for private schools.
Royal Society President Sir Adrian Smith said it was "reassuring to see commitment from the Prime Minister" as "much more needs to be done" to make courses such as basic mathematics and mathematics skills in general widely available and are attractive to students.
Sam Sims, chief executive of the charity National Numeracy, said: "The fight against numeracy problems needs to start well before the age of 16. We need a cradle-to-career vision for numeracy in the UK."
PA wire
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