Should children be taught maths until 18?

[Mitmoo]

Children should be taught maths up to the age of 18 to avert the ?educational catastrophe? of 300,000 teenagers a year failing to grasp the basics, a hard-hitting report claims.

By 16 there is a ?colossal? ten-year range in mathematical learning between students, the report by former Countdown presenter Carol Vorderman reveals.

She calls for a ?mathematics for citizenship? course to be introduced for those studying A-levels that don?t involve the subject. And she recommends splitting the maths GCSE into two qualifications, one designed for those going on to A-level.

Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2023572/Catastrophe-school-leavers-add-Carol-Vorderman.html#ixzz1UQ0lXf00

Surely if children havent grasped the basics by 16 after 12 years of education another two isn't going to make much of a difference?

Concentrate maths, reading , writing till 11. Then concentrate on what the child is good at Some people never get MATHS. Vordawoman should be back on countdown

If they haven't managed to teach most children the basics by 16 what will an extra 2 years be able to do?

Some people never get maths

Agreed, but there is no reason there should be more such people in the UK than in Finland or Canada or France. So why are our pupils doing significantly worse than in these other countries and many others? (and I am not even bringing China and South Korea into the picture, so don't get all 'tiger mother' on me).

I for one don't think British children have lower IQs than in other Western states, therefore we are failing many of them in not expecting them to do better and shrugging it off by saying they just don't 'get' maths.

They used to be able to teach them early, but now they can't. They need to face up to what they are doing wrong and change it.

andrewofg - there is a reason european students come here to avoid the BAcc. Because hat is how the Bacc works - it allows little room for individual choice but demands you pass mandatory subjects. No way to treat teenagers who are more than old enough to make their own choices.

But not all children are in education until they are 18 so how would that work?

senior schools are accountable; pupils take exams and the school is judged rightly or wrongly by those GSCE reuslts
primary schools are not accountable; there are no exams to judge the school by so clearly as GSCEs, SATS were too complicated and not an absoulte measure

I went to school in Germany and had to do maths all the way through. I was not very god at maths after year 10, so about the time of GCSEs.
Maths in years 11 to 13 was so abstract that I failed 3 out of the 4 terms, pulling down my average quite a bit.

I have never needed that level of maths again. However, not once was I taught anything of value, such as how to do our tax returns or whatever.

Someone described the school system in Holland further up, and Germany is a bit the same. We have three school levels. the most academic one doesn't teach anything applied, no home economics, no wood work or whatever. We often joked that it's great we had done Art for 13 years, but ever learned how to put our pictures up on the wall.

I do not think just teaching a few subjects in depth is great, and don't like the idea of ALevels at all. But I do think that students should have some choices, and if Maths or English is really not 'their thing' at all, why torture them 2 more years with something they won't need ever again?

I would rather that schools teach more applied knowledge, that really matters to students.
but I have to say that by talking to my DP I get the feeling the UK is already much ahead of Germany with that. We went to school at the same time but I never had a single IT lesson, whereas he had it pretty much all the way through secondary school.

I failed my maths A-level - didn't have a clue how to tackle the papers at all.

However I studied statistics in sociology and economics at university and got a 2:1.

I worked as a computer programmer for 16 years, in a role where they recruit for mathematical aptitude. I developed and support financial systems performing complex mathematical complications (well, mostly very large calculations TBH).

I can do all the calculations I need to design and complete DIY projects (area, volume, angles etc.)

The majority of maths I was taught at school has been irrelevant. It only served to confuse and upset me, leaving my self-confidence in shreds. I was taught well up to GCE level and that is all I have really needed to know since then.

Perhaps a better solution would be to teach maths, in a variety of interesting and engaging ways, until everyone has passed their GCSE maths or until they leave school. Not to force children with a competent understanding to keep rehashing the same skills.

On a practical note, who will do this extra teaching? We already have a cronic lack of Maths teachers which causes problems. Too many secondary schools have non specialists teaching maths as they can't get enough Maths teachers. They often do not have the understanding to teach in a way that is flexible enough for those who struggle.