AIBU to think Rishi Sunak is sadistic and unreasonable to want all pupils to study maths up to 18?

[Boysgrownbutstillathome]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64158179

My objection is more that if current teaching isn't working why just do more of it? Learning maths isbt a torture, but it is a pointless gesture without allowing teacher led reform of teaching.

I hate the Tories but this is actually a bloody good idea. I cut off so many avenues for future empolyment for myself by giving up all maths and sciences at the (frankly idiotic) age of 16. Same with languages. I didn't know enough about the world to make such a decision.

i rarely make positive comparisons with the USA, but their education system which encourages a generalist approach until much later on in your education is so much more sensible than ours, where kids are allowed to start cutting off their options for future employment at 14.

Sounds fair enough to be honest. If your argument was that children shouldn't be forced to stay in formal education until they were 18 I might agree, but if they stay, a greater mathematical understanding can only help them in their later lives.

(Personally I think at 16 children should be allowed to either stay in education, join the armed forces for a minimum of two years, or go to a kind of national citizenship service where they live in a military-style environment with strict discipline and drill but do work to serve the community like litter picking or cleaning cars instead of getting shot at.)

YASNBU!

Sadistic? 🙄

TBH, there is a sound argument for children to be taught practical maths such as budgeting and interest rates rather than calculus. That would be something that has value I think.

As someone who has always struggled with maths I really think that this is a good idea.

In many other countries it's compulsory to study maths to 18.

The question in my mind is about the actual standard required, given that
A) there's no new qualifications being proposed for kids who passed their maths GCSE - and you can guarantee the compulsory maths lessons with no qualification at the end of it will become an absolute joke to the kids forced to attend alongside their A Levels in Drama, Art and Music.
B) kids who failed GCSE maths are already required to resit in the 6th form

Rishi is rearranging the deckchairs on this one. A proposal that starts with "maths is good" but hasn't been thought through at any practical level. I predict it will come to nothing.

I think it's a very good idea. I'd like to see more of a move to IB style learning or the American system rather than whittling down to three subjects by 18.

Not sadistic but definitely unreasonable. Also unrealistic, where does he expect to get enough maths teachers from considering there currently aren't enough when it is compulsory to age 16?
It is a headline grabber, that's all. Completely unworkable unless he also funds the increase in required teachers, which he won't!

It’s just another fucking dead cat

Ignoring what the country actually needs and proposing some piss poor policy to divert attention from their utter fuck ups

They could have made me study maths all they liked but I’d not have passed any exams because despite having excellent teachers I just don’t have the talent for it. That would have meant fails on my record and would likely have cut off more avenues than it created. I’ve only very rarely needed the skills I learned in the time I studied maths and even then there were people to help me or Google if not.

It's a daft idea unless it can be properly incorporated - we should be teaching economics alongside maths.

I think it's a good idea, but not for all kids to keep on advancing upwards to more and more complex maths, when for some that will never work.

Instead, I'd make it more like a support subject, where you keep being taught the importance of maths in everyday life and to understand things like compound interest, what statistics in the news mean, how to use a basic working maths knowledge in budgeting and planning, etc. And keep helping those who struggle with maths with the basics. And at higher levels, when kids are focusing on their preferred subjects, I'd make it only a small amount of time per week. That would actually be helpful, and those who are taking higher/advanced maths because it's their preference could also benefit from it.

Maths is compulsory in Ireland, but there are different levels to accommodate all abilities.

I've always struggled with the fucker too - trying to learn fucking calculous and loci and envelopes for another 2 years wouldn't have helped.
If Rishi thinks this is the most important thing to be worrying about now, he's more useless than I thought.

They should invest in maths teaching, by all means and/or do more to teach kids the practical applications in finance management (interest, taxes etc), which is something I see people ask to be taught time and again.

But I don't see what they're supposed to teach? If kids don't have the basics, it's no use teaching them advanced maths; if kids have the basics, they don't need teaching them that; and some kids (like me) are OK at GCSE but have no interest or ability in advanced mathematics, and it's not of any use to the vast majority of people.

It's just saying something to make red-faced old men go 'Quite right, young people need to do more hard subjects!'

I think it's a good idea.

It's probably impractical unless you're making other changes to 16-18 education, and I can't see that being popular, but as a basic idea it's sound. It will just depend on the details.

I live in Ireland we have a general education system Irish, English and Maths are compulsory to 18. I think it is a good idea but without the Irish which is poorly taught and very painful. Maths is taught to 3 different levels to accommodate different abilities.

Jesus wept. Many Asian kids do this and are excelling at school and going on to great careers.

Maths is hard and has to be thought about.
Stuff like sociology is easy
That is why is the workplace a maths qualification is highly respected and humanities and stuff like sociology is not.
So yes the govt are sadists for trying to educate your kids and enable them to compete is a fiercely hard work environment

I think he should be focusing on all the other areas that the country is going down the pan FFS. Is this really a priority?

Yes all those other countries that teach maths to 18 are sadistic. FFS.

I remember once being in a shop and watching an approx 18yr old shop assistant who was unable to calculate 10% off prices. She just didn't understand % or even how to take that off the price once she'd worked out what 10% was.

So yes, I think that we could all do with a little more maths.

I might support a remedial, non-examined course for those who have failed/have very low marks in GCSE maths to ensure people are numerate, without piling on the pressure. Maybe do something like that and provide some sort of incentive on completion of the course so people stick with it, or something like Education Maintainance Payments for it?

Studying a wider curriculum from 16-18 like the IB or Irish Leving cert would be much better for the students they have to specialise far too young at the moment.

The American system sees pupils achieve similar standards in the high school diploma at age 18 as we do in GCSEs at 16.

Hence UK universities require Advanced Placement tests in 3-4 subjects as that's broadly equivalent to A Levels
www.manchester.ac.uk/study/international/country-specific-information/usa/entry-requirements/#country-profile

It's also worth noting that US universities have 4 year long degrees as standard because they then require "general education" classes irrelevant to their actual degree subject.

IB is fantastic for kids who are academic all rounders but rubbish for kids who are more specialist. I'd sooner see a pupil succeed at a narrower range of subjects than make a linguist suffer their way through science or a dyslexic mathematician suffer their way through French.