Rishi Sunak claims that the UK has an ‘anti-maths mindset’ that makes it ‘cool’ to be bad at the subject. He wants students to continue learning maths until they are 18, but many have criticised this plan, mainly due to the education system’s current problems with teacher shortages. Stephen Follows, the film maker and film data analyst asked to be a ‘maths champion’ and promote the new policy, called it ‘misguided’.
The UK is one of a few nations that doesn’t require students to learn maths until they are 18, but without the much-needed resources, this doesn’t seem like a feasible change. Teachers have been striking over their low pay and poor working conditions since January this year, with more strikes planned on 27 April and 2 May. This is because of an offer from the government of a 4.3% pay raise for most teachers, which is below inflation, and a one-off payment of £1,000 to all teachers. Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, joint general secretaries of the National Education Union, said, “The offer shows an astounding lack of judgement and understanding of the desperate situation in the education system”.
There aren’t enough resources
Sir Adrian Smith, who was asked about the possibility of students continuing to learn maths until they are 18, rejected the policy because he had concerns about a lack of resources. The education system is struggling, shown by many stories of teachers who pay for pens and notebooks out of their own pocket. The Guardian reported that according to the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), one in five teachers buy school supplies with their own money.
This is appalling considering how little teachers earn, and the government’s refusal to significantly increase the money being spent on the education system could be the cause for their policy’s failure. Sunak admitted that the UK would need time to recruit more maths teachers, but this might be bordering on an impossible task when being a teacher is becoming an increasingly unattractive career choice. Professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter Lee Elliot Major said Sunak’s plans would take “at least a decade” to implement.
A promise without a plan
Sunak has failed to outline how he plans to recruit more maths teachers, which makes any follow through unlikely when the government has failed to reach its target for recruitment of maths teachers for the past decade. Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research and the University of Buckingham, said Sunak’s policy is “half-baked” and he hasn’t “actually sat down and thought – right how do we make this happen?”
Almost a third of students failed their maths GCSE in 2022, which suggests something needs to be done. GCSE maths is essential for most job applications, so wanting to improve maths education is understandable.
However, the education system needs to be given more resources so that it is better equipped to teach children, which will make passing maths easier. It seems that this policy is a distraction from the government’s mistreatment of educators, since it creates a façade of focusing on improving education.
So, if Sunak wants more maths teachers to teach maths to students over 16 – I wonder if they’ll still have to provide their own pencils?
