Rishi Sunak has admitted there are not enough teachers to fulfil his plans to boost maths learning, as he failed to say when he will deliver his vision to get everyone studying the subject until adulthood.
In the second speech to announce his “maths to 18” policy for England, the prime minister on Monday could not commit to begin rolling out the plans this year.
Mr Sunak, an investment banker before entering politics, insisted he does not want make maths at A-Level compulsory, but said being bad at maths should not be “socially acceptable”.
Critics have pointed out that the government has cut its recruitment target for maths teachers by 39 per cent since 2020, and has failed to even achieve that.
Mr Sunak accepted there aren’t enough teachers to even meet existing requirements – let alone fulfil his vision for maths – which he hopes will boost the economy, saying poor numeracy was “causing us to fall behind the rest of the world”.
“On teachers, yes we need [more] already, and we will need more maths teachers, and we know that,” he said at the London Screen Academy in Islington.
But he conceded the “big long-term reform” was “not going to happen overnight” as he faced questions over children’s education being damaged by a failure to end the teachers’ strikes.
Discussing the policy at a north London college, the PM admitted that despite progress the UK is “one of the least numerate countries in the developed world”.
He denied this was a failure of just previous Conservative governments as he conceded more than 1 million adults have numeracy skills below those expected of nine-year-olds and a third do not pass maths GCSE.
Mr Sunak said teenagers will be made to study maths in “some form” until 18 and said it must be “additional to other subjects, not instead of them”.
“Let me be absolutely clear: I am not saying that the answer is A-Level maths for everyone, but we do need to work out the maths our young people should study,” he said, adding that he wanted to challenge the “anti-maths mindset”.
Rishi Sunak giving a speech on education at London Screen Academy
(PA)
The PM announced an expert-led review into how to carry out his plan. The review will look at whether a new maths qualification will be needed. Mr Sunak also committed to expanding teaching maths hubs, and introduce a new voluntary and fully funded professional qualification for primary school maths teachers.
But Labour criticised the “empty pledge”. Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “Once again, the prime minister needs to show his working – he cannot deliver this reheated, empty pledge without more maths teachers.”
Education secretary Gillian Keegan also admitted there were not enough teachers to deliver the plan – but was unable to say how many more maths teachers she expects will be needed to achieve the government’s policy.
Asked how many more maths teachers would be needed, she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It depends on what the expert panel say they’re actually going to be learning.”
Ed Balls reveals that he is studying for A-Level maths
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said that instead of “re-announcing a vague and poorly thought-out policy”, Mr Sunak should focus on resolving the pay dispute which has triggered industrial action.
The union leader added: “It seems like an attempt to divert attention away from the most pressing matter in education in England which is the industrial dispute triggered by the erosion of teacher pay and conditions and resulting crisis in recruiting and retaining enough staff.”
The National Education Union (NEU)’s joint general secretary Mary Bousted said: “Let’s not forget that this is a government that has cut its recruitment target for maths teachers by 39 per cent since 2020.”
“Parents and school staff will be left scratching their heads at this latest announcement from the prime minister. Taken as a whole, the government’s policies on education simply don’t add up.”
Mr Sunak said critics who said it was wrong to force young people to study maths beyond the age of 16 are “coming at it the wrong way”. He added: “It is not about forcing everyone to do maths at A-level, it is about making sure that they study the right form of maths.”
The Institute of Economic Affairs, the right-wing think tank said “extending compulsory maths education is no silver bullet for economic growth”. adding: “The Soviet Union was world-renowned for maths and science instruction but that failed to translate into a strong economy.”
It came as former Labour shadow chancellor Ed Balls has revealed his is studying for A-level maths having “always regretted” not achieving the qualification at school.
The ITV Good Morning Britain presenter – married to shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper – said his mother-in-law was teaching him and he was finding it “really, really hard”.
Adam Forrest
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