Pupils educated at comprehensive schools are half as likely to study mathematics as their counterparts in the private sector, creating a "massive problem" with social mobility, a Tory MP has warned.
Liz Truss, who helped run the centre-right Reform thinktank before her election as MP for South West Norfolk at the last election, said a failure to provide adequate maths teaching was leaving pupils ill equipped for the modern world.
Truss made her comments in a parliamentary debate, held in Westminster Hall, in which she argued in favour of a "subject premium" to boost funding of maths teaching. The MP said that the Young People's Learning Agency, which funds sixth form subjects, awards 12% more funding to media studies, psychology, physics and biology than it does to maths and English.
Truss told MPs that this lack of funding helps explain why Britain now lies in 28th place in the world ranking for maths teaching for 16-18-year-olds, according to the OECD programme for international student assessment (Pisa). This is leaving young people poorly prepared.
"Even for those who don't go onto study maths and science at university a good background in the subject is vital because it is the next generation of primary school teachers, of journalists and politicians who also need to know sure they know the basics of maths," Truss said.
"If their maths is not up to scratch then we will have a damaged ecosystem where we don't have the next group of children getting proper maths education at school, we will have poor quality numerical analysis in our press and in our media and poor quality statistics in our public life."
Full article HERE
Slightly different topic from normal, I know, as it has little to do with my employment status...but it's just one of those things that makes me really despair for our future.
As it stands, it wasn't until after I left secondary school that I learned more about science and maths; during my time at school I was taught the basics on how to pass an exam, or get my coursework done, but actually understanding the subject? Understanding the meanings behind the words I was learning? No, that didn't happen until I was left to figure things out on my own.
Already we're saddled with a media that can barely understand the most basic of Scientific studies, forgetting to check statistics, site sources, or even see if the study has been peer reviewed. Next up we're going to be saddled with a media that not only fails in scientific coverage, but fails at proper coverage of anything that requires mathematics (science, sport, economics, business, etc).
The media is a strong focus for me, but clearly isn't the only thing we should think about with this. The public as a whole has an even worse understanding of science (to the point where they blindly accept what the media tells them when they get it wrong), and I dread to think of what our society is going to be like if the people we deal with on a daily basis can't handle basic mathematical problems.
Hey, I'm probably blowing this way out of proportion here...well, not probably, I am blowing this way out of proportion, but given how bad the state of scientific literacy is in the world at the moment, I can't help but wonder why promises to support the education system at all costs is being forgotten.
It's probably safe to say that this generation is shit out of luck when it comes to finding decent paying jobs within the next couple of years, but the next generation should realistically be OK for finding jobs...if they have the education.
Have a good day.
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