To think the school system is ridiculous

Don't know where the 100 years is plucked from, Algebra is one of the oldest forms of learning, the very name is from Arabic, our number system also uses Arabic numbers as opposed to, eg, Roman numerals. The curriculum doesn't vary widely as the outcomes remain the same, although the teaching methods will vary.

OP, I don't know where to start. This thread is just so wrong-headed. I'm a teacher in an Irish school. Do you suffer from having very little imagination? Is that why you don't understand the importance of poetry and basic maths?

I think the point that specialisation could be allowed earlier is reasonable.

A lot of what’s taught in school maths goes beyond what most people need for day to day, it could help to split academic maths from numeracy - focus the latter more on eg understanding how stats can be used in the news to manipulate opinion, how to complete a tax return (even if it’s a simplified toy version), how to make a household budget, that sort of thing. And similarly splitting academic English from literacy so it’s not necessary to study poetry to age 18 but is required to show reading comprehension skills and writing for different contexts.

We could also allow teachers / individual schools to sign off on the basic competencies and keep national exams for the academic subjects to reduce stress and testing culture.

It's about the skills used/learned. Transferable skills for example - its not about being able to quote a particular poet its about being able to use evidence to support your point and build an argument while also being able to premept and counter contrasting arguments. Study a wide variety of subjects and you end up with a wide variety of skills. A wide variety of skills makes you better equipped to meet the demands of working life (not everything is about university) and helps you career wise. Also not everyone has one career throughout their whole life. Really having to work hard, prioritise what's important to you, being able to recall relevant information and interact with others is important - they are skills for life not just a career.

I went to a state comp in England in the 2000’s.

I could have really benefited from the below if they covered it in the curriculum:

Finance: deposits, mortgages, taxes, balance sheets, loans, national insurance, pensions.

Cooking: different utensils, what to refrigerate/freeze, how to prep meals, batch cooking, different spices, how to chop things in the best shapes.

Housework: changing lightbulbs, radiator bleeding, what to do with a leak, radiator bleeding, cleaning tips, using a washing machine, gardening, energy saving, green living.

Job searching: how to write a professional and attractive CV, interview prep, cover letters, application processes, expectations at work eg: punctuality, PDRs, 1:1s, communication skills.

Politics: different political parties, manifestos, democracy, importance of voting, current affairs.

He won't make a good Dr then if he pathologises fear!

I feel posters are unfairly jumping on OP. Her sentiment is well understood. It's being used by posters to demean and belittle her. The sentiment makes sense.

What I believe she means is that for a pretty large proportion - maths, say in the form of algebra is not of use for them. They have neither the interest or skill. Exactly how and at what point can you pull this group out and allow them the opportunity to cultivate their inate skills in an area they excel at....that's the question.

I believe there is a better way. I'd need a number of hours and a few quid to work on possible ways this could work in practice 🤷😆

@SuflanI totally hear you about not being able to win on mumsnet! So true! I would say it depends if you’re referring to things specific to England or things that are relevant to all UK countries, but I can see that could be easy to muddle up depending where you live yourself. But I’m derailing your thread here sorry. Back to maths 🙃

Algebra is so completely irrelevant in this day and age.

If you want to be simplistic, and it's clear that you do, then when was Algebra ever 'relevant'? One could say the same about History, Geography, in fact most school subjects, maybe we should revert to the Victorian days when all children need to be little wage serfs was a knowledge of basic arithmetic, ie sums, a good written hand and an awareness of grammar.
The ability to study and understand somewhat Algebra says something about a person's willingness to study and that they don't throw the towel in as soon as things get difficult, characteristics that employers value.

So now it’s maths and English is out?

So what should people be studying

Because you’re not backing yours up with anything. You don’t use maths in your post-school life, so you don’t appear to grasp that many careers absolutely require it. My son is at secondary school in Ireland at the moment. He’s getting a good general education. He’s naturally maths-minded, and will quite possibly do something after school that requires maths.

Literally all of machine learning is based on algebra. So all the recent AI advances, (like ChatGPT, AI drug discovery, AI image generation…) that’s all possible because of people who can do the kind of maths that you think is irrelevant. Just because you don’t personally use something in your job, doesn’t mean it’s not worth teaching in schools.

And to preempt the inevitable next argument: no, most AI engineering doesn’t involve a lot of solving equations by hand, the actual arithmetic is done by the computer. But understanding how that sort of maths works is completely essential for developing the necessary algorithms, and that understanding starts with solving simple equations in school.

@LemondrizzleSharkOh I agree with you, my original comment regarding the range of options in Scotland was in direct response to an earlier poster who said it would be better if there was an option for maths and financial services, which I also agree with. I was just highlighting that those options are available in Scotland.
You are also right though that the OP is speaking about the Irish system 🙂

It is changed and overhauled constantly (I know quite a few teachers who are spend lots of time on meetings/paperwork due to everything changing). Parents are often aware of some changes, for example Roman numerals is on the primary curriculum and we didn't learn that then. Whether it's changed enough, or in the right way, is open to debate. They do more non-academic things now, like life-skills, tooth-brushing, potty-training and dealing with relationships/internet bullying, but lots of people argue about whether parents should be doing the non-academic stuff.

Accountant here. I don't use much complex maths, but algebra can be pretty simple and I use it all the time. Gross value of an invoice is £240, vat is 20%, what is the net value.

The thought process is algebra.

DP is an engineer and uses both algebra and trigonometry.

I would say every member of my immediate family uses or used maths every day in their job.

But we like it, I wouldn't make it compulsory to 18. There are other skills.

Like....
maths is always relevant whether you like it or not. Everyone does it at school and always has.

The point of these exams is to assess how capable someone is at applying themselves, even at subjects at which they are not particularly good.

High performance in maths reflects strong general cognitive abilities as it is closely tied to logical reasoning, problem-solving, and analytical thinking. Research shows that maths achievement in secondary school correlates highly with university performance.

Ironically, linear algebra is a fundamental mathematical foundation of artificial intelligence, but all this is lost on OP who will soon be replaced by AI.

Algebra is required in many fields, and this is a fact.
You can have an opinion, but when something is a fact, opinions do not matter.
Children having the opinion that school is rubbish doesn't make it so.

And statistics is part of maths!! See usefull