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Original poster

Is Rishi Sunak utterly thick?

400 replies

noblegiraffe · 17/04/2023 21:07

Today he actually went ahead and announced his plans for everyone studying maths till 18.

And all everyone commenting on this on the news or social media has been saying today is "but this is mad because there aren't enough maths teachers to teach the qualifications we already have".

And teachers including maths teachers, are going on strike again next week because the government refuses to pay them properly. The government also failed to meet its maths teacher trainee recruitment target last year and will again this year.

This announcement just gives everyone the wonderful opportunity to point these governmental failings again and again.

Why the fuck would anyone with any political sense announce a policy that cannot happen and gives everyone the opportunity to point out that it can't happen because the government are shit?

Just why?

OP posts:
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10
Hawkins003 · 17/04/2023 23:02

MrsHerculePoirot · 17/04/2023 23:01

@Hawkins003 but this isn’t about people leaning ‘if they want’? What a bizarre perspective.

You know full well they are not suggesting people learn maths until 18 at home on a games console if they want to 🤣🤣🤣

For the record if you don’t have internet then you can’t access YouTube. Still. Even on a games console. Which you’re unlikely to have if you can’t afford internet….

Just because you put people in a classroom , does not mean they will learn .

Hawkins003 · 17/04/2023 23:03

Hercisback · 17/04/2023 23:02

For those that have the desire the option is there

This option is already available. There's plenty of free online maths resources.

Look at the hordes of teenagers using them to improve their maths Hmm.

I weep for the future of humanity

MrsHerculePoirot · 17/04/2023 23:03

Hawkins003 · 17/04/2023 22:56

The other option, using charity shops etc to get encyclopedia, or maths books when available etc, or borrowing from the local library

Show quote history

🤣🤣🤣 you are definitely trolling us here…. I’ve never known such bizarre comments on something ever!

Hawkins003 · 17/04/2023 23:04

MrsHerculePoirot · 17/04/2023 23:03

🤣🤣🤣 you are definitely trolling us here…. I’ve never known such bizarre comments on something ever!

Show quote history

I need a history book. Local library, or charity shops, or world of books eBay, what's hard to fathom ?

Hercisback · 17/04/2023 23:04

Just because you put maths resources on the Internet, doesn't mean people will learn.

Socrateswasrightaboutvoting · 17/04/2023 23:05

ConcordeOoter · 17/04/2023 22:10

It can happen. We would do well, on an almost immediate basis to transition our society to a state where basic maths and programming are commonplace adult skills on the level of catching a bus or driving a car.

Maths can be learnt and taught much more efficiently than it is, step one is to get online courses, lectures and demonstrations out to everyone, to have people ready to deliver help where it is needed, to boil that help down to supplementary course materials, and rinse/repeat until most people can get to A level without very many hours of human teaching support.

The teaching unions are not necessarily qualified to decide how efficiently this can be delivered, if the last few years are anything to go by: for every maths teacher that twatted around unable to work zoom and eventually disappeared up their own backside during lockdown, fifty people saved their children's exams or upped their own skills with something like khan academy.

I hope you are not a teacher.

sst1234 · 17/04/2023 23:05

Whenever there is an announcement like this, always look for which bit of bad news these corrupt idiots are trying to bury.

Hercisback · 17/04/2023 23:05

I weep for the future of humanity

Because the PM is trying to do something that already exists?

Hawkins003 · 17/04/2023 23:07

Hercisback · 17/04/2023 23:05

I weep for the future of humanity

Because the PM is trying to do something that already exists?

More because society has the means to improve their knowledge and skills. Etc, yet a good majority given them music. Or football , or celebs ect and their more interested in that.

Original poster
noblegiraffe · 17/04/2023 23:08

Hercisback · 17/04/2023 23:04

Just because you put maths resources on the Internet, doesn't mean people will learn.

The amount of free maths resources and videos to teach yourself on the internet is incredible.

And yet they don't seem to be working. Possibly because also on the internet is a shit-tonne of procrastination activities.

OP posts:
MrsHerculePoirot · 17/04/2023 23:08

@Hawkins003 what exactly do you think Sunak is suggesting here?

a) kids learn maths in school/college until 18

b) they can just learn on YouTube on their Xbox at home if they want to….

I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about tbh….

Dibbydoos · 17/04/2023 23:08

It's utter madness. Maths is a subject tgat most people can't understand other than basic arithmetic, which frankly is all we need to kniw on a day to day basis.

If we are going to keep one topic until 18yo, it would be much better to keep an Art because creativity is something we all tend to lose through the school system, yet inventiveness is the one thing we all def need to grow our careers or IT because the future AI enabled world is almost here....

Nat6999 · 17/04/2023 23:09

I wouldn't worry about it, in just over 18 months time the Tories won't be in government or need a calculator to count their seats. It's all window dressing to try & stop us talking about the things that matter, the cost of living, the environment & Tory sleaze.

Hawkins003 · 17/04/2023 23:10

MrsHerculePoirot · 17/04/2023 23:08

@Hawkins003 what exactly do you think Sunak is suggesting here?

a) kids learn maths in school/college until 18

b) they can just learn on YouTube on their Xbox at home if they want to….

I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about tbh….

Your MrsHerculePoirot,
The point I'm suggesting, people easily point to lack of teachers ect, well with technology today majority of the population can teach themselves as the same knowledge teachers would teach, is the same or similar information as would be on eg YouTube etc

Hawkins003 · 17/04/2023 23:11

Dibbydoos · 17/04/2023 23:08

It's utter madness. Maths is a subject tgat most people can't understand other than basic arithmetic, which frankly is all we need to kniw on a day to day basis.

If we are going to keep one topic until 18yo, it would be much better to keep an Art because creativity is something we all tend to lose through the school system, yet inventiveness is the one thing we all def need to grow our careers or IT because the future AI enabled world is almost here....

Have you seen the art that mid journey is producing with people's skills ?

MrsHerculePoirot · 17/04/2023 23:11

So you agree then his idea is shit?

Hawkins003 · 17/04/2023 23:12

MrsHerculePoirot · 17/04/2023 23:11

So you agree then his idea is shit?

No his idea is a good idea, the population does need better skills

ConcordeOoter · 17/04/2023 23:12

Hawkins003 · 17/04/2023 22:51

With the way technology is, most knowledge and understanding can be learned via online.

Show quote history

Yep, and if you've done this, or had to get your kids doing it, the idea we need to all wait a hundred years and spend a trillion pounds so tech dinosaurs can impart it through zoom and regularly reiterate lesson plans is ...really strange.

The really vital use of human input with learning maths (which is already available in lifetimes' worth of well structured course material, but still hard to teach yourself) is in getting the concepts across to each pupil - and when we pay people to do that, a basic part of their job should be to plan out how they will record a video on it so next time 20,000 pupils can benefit from it.

There's no way, with the whole education system and state interested we couldn't make something twice as comprehensive as eg khan academy and if people could be bothered we could service it with online classes (from people already paid money to serve a catchment area) as well.

Original poster
noblegiraffe · 17/04/2023 23:12

Talking about AI, I asked ChatGPT yesterday to find the nth term of some quadratic and cubic sequences.

It just kept getting it wrong. I have no idea why. I'd feed it the sequence, it'd give me an nth term (wrong), then I'd ask it to generate the sequence from it, which was completely different to the one I'd asked it to find the nth term of. And then it would say sorry.

OP posts:
Hawkins003 · 17/04/2023 23:14

noblegiraffe · 17/04/2023 23:12

Talking about AI, I asked ChatGPT yesterday to find the nth term of some quadratic and cubic sequences.

It just kept getting it wrong. I have no idea why. I'd feed it the sequence, it'd give me an nth term (wrong), then I'd ask it to generate the sequence from it, which was completely different to the one I'd asked it to find the nth term of. And then it would say sorry.

That system is not perfect, but it's a good starting tool

sst1234 · 17/04/2023 23:15

Dibbydoos · 17/04/2023 23:08

It's utter madness. Maths is a subject tgat most people can't understand other than basic arithmetic, which frankly is all we need to kniw on a day to day basis.

If we are going to keep one topic until 18yo, it would be much better to keep an Art because creativity is something we all tend to lose through the school system, yet inventiveness is the one thing we all def need to grow our careers or IT because the future AI enabled world is almost here....

You can’t paint your way into a tech revolution. Maths is essential. And more advanced than just being able to count on 10 finger.

Original poster
noblegiraffe · 17/04/2023 23:15

The really vital use of human input with learning maths (which is already available in lifetimes' worth of well structured course material, but still hard to teach yourself) is in getting the concepts across to each pupil - and when we pay people to do that, a basic part of their job should be to plan out how they will record a video on it so next time 20,000 pupils can benefit from it.

Here you go: https://corbettmaths.com/contents/

Or maybe https://www.mathsgenie.co.uk/gcse.html

Or https://youtube.com/@haberdashersadamsmathsdepa3347

Already done and freely available.

Videos and Worksheets

Videos, Practice Questions and Textbook Exercises on every Secondary Maths topic

https://corbettmaths.com/contents/

OP posts:
ToWhitToWhoo · 17/04/2023 23:17

Sunak, like most British politicians and policymakers, seems to suffer from what I call the 'King Canute syndrome': if you want something to happen, whether it's the wind and waves reversing direction, or that all adults should be competent at maths, all you have to do is order it, and hey presto, it will happen!

MrsHerculePoirot · 17/04/2023 23:18

@ConcordeOoter think you’ve answered your own question there with “the state interested”. They’re not. They couldn’t give a shit about education and continually refuse to inject the money needed to keep it functioning in a basic level let alone any kind of joined up thinking approach.

Out of interest what qualifications do you have to do with pedagogy around teaching? Or is this based of the experiences of your own few children?

ilovesooty · 17/04/2023 23:18

Hercisback · 17/04/2023 22:46

The reason I know they aren't necessary is because 2 generations of my family have been cut adrift by them.

W t f

Exactly.