MBA-turned-Prime Minister Sunak “Mathematics is essential, otherwise tens of billions of dollars in economic loss per year”
Compulsory education age 16 → 18 promoted
Mathematics not included in UK university entrance exams
The math level of 8 million adults is ‘9 years old or younger’
“Numbers are as essential as reading. It shouldn’t be socially acceptable to joke that you’re bad at math.”
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced plans to raise the age of compulsory mathematics education from 16 to 18. Prime Minister Sunak also raised the need for strengthening mathematics education in this year’s New Year’s address, emphasizing his will to pursue this without backing down. With opposition parties and teachers’ organizations protesting for reasons such as the lack of teachers, it seems that Britain is falling into a ‘mathematics education debate’.
According to the British BBC and The Guardian, Prime Minister Sunak brought up mathematics as a hot topic through a speech to students and teachers in North London on the 17th. “It is unacceptable that poor math skills cost the economy tens of billions of dollars a year,” he said. At the same time, he said about the reason why students over the age of 17 should receive compulsory mathematics education, saying, “If you do not have math skills, your income is low.”
Prime Minister Sunak previously announced in his New Year’s address in January of this year that he would consider making compulsory mathematics education for children up to the age of 16 up to the age of 18. At the time, he said, “In a world where statistics support everything, future jobs will require more analytical skills than ever before.”
Accordingly, the British government is conducting research on ways to raise the age of compulsory mathematics education through an advisory committee composed of mathematicians, education experts and business representatives, and the results are expected to be announced around July. According to the BBC, etc., even within the government, it was a position that it would not be implemented before the general election scheduled for the end of next year, considering the lack of preparation. However, due to Prime Minister Sunak’s speech this time, it is expected that the debate on ‘expanding the age of mathematics education’ will grow.
According to the BBC, Britain ranked 18th in the world in math achievement in 2019, based on tests taken by 15-year-olds. There is an analysis that it declines more rapidly after that age.
According to data released by Prime Minister Sunak in January of this year, around 8 million adults in the UK have low math skills that do not meet the expectations of a 9-year-old. In particular, about 60% of low-income students were diagnosed as not having basic math skills even at the age of 16.
In British 6th form, which is equivalent to a high school in Korea, students choose only 3 or 4 subjects to study in order to prepare for the A-Level exam, equivalent to the College Scholastic Ability Test. Since mathematics is not a compulsory subject, there are many students who do not learn mathematics from this time. Without going through the sixth form, they receive education only until the age of 16 and advance into society early. As a result, around half of British students aged 17 and over do not study mathematics at all.
Prime Minister Sunak, on the other hand, has built his career using mathematics for a long time. After graduating from Oxford University in the UK, he received an MBA from Stanford University and worked as an analyst at Goldman Sachs, a global investment bank, and as a hedge fund manager. His wife also graduated from Stanford University with an MBA and is the daughter of Narayana Murti, the founder of Indian information technology (IT) conglomerate Infosys. Prime Minister Sunak expresses his strong belief that “providing children with the highest possible level of education is what led me to enter politics.”
However, there are many hurdles to overcome before his vision becomes a reality. Mathematics, in particular, has relatively fewer teachers than English or science. A 2021 survey of secondary schools in the UK by the UK National Education Research Foundation found that 45% of schools reported that non-mathematical teachers had taught math classes due to a shortage of math teachers. This is why the opposition Labor Party criticized it, saying, “Without more teachers, the mathematics policy for under-18s is nothing more than an empty pledge.”
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.