Greater emphasis on maths – yes! How to go about it? Ask those schools where maths is actually enjoyed by its students. (Even if we can only count them on one hand…)
Ian Weslake-Hill, Cardiff
It is a cultural thing. People are almost proud to say that they cannot do maths, but no one admits to not being able to read.
Bob Sillitoe, Cheltenham
Numeracy is a vital skill in all walks of life, and it should be made fun, and relevant. Sizes, comparisons, costs, bargains, games, percentages, odds are all there to understand and gain from.
Brian Burgess, York
Yes, I do believe greater emphasis should be placed on numeracy in schools. That is to say mathematics that applies to everyday situations such as dealing in money, travel times etc, rather that just passing a GCSE paper.
Barry Kempster, Newcastle-under-Lyme
We need to find a way for schoolchildren to become interested and engaged in maths, to realise the relevance it has to them. Once they see those benefits, then educating them should be a lot more efficient.
Simon Cotton, Sleaford, Lincolnshire
The old proverb that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink applies. Many children don't like maths, don't appreciate its relevance and can't wait to get out of schooling at 16. Making maths compulsory to age 18 will not change that.
Bernard Rochard, Wellingborough, Northants
Maths to age 18 is pointless unless you intend to use it in your future work. All young people should have basic competency with fractions and percentages by the time they reach 16.
Barry Le'Febour, Worthing, Sussex
How many of the recent looters are innumerate – I suspect the vast majority of them!
Chris Harding, Aldershot, Hants
If we are going to make maths compulsory for longer, we need to understand what it is that people are likely to need. How many people need to differentiate and integrate in their daily lives? We should consider how useful the present-day curriculum really is.
Brian Rowney, Manchester
Yes, yes, yes and a thousand times yes. Make it more relevant to the daily parts of life that all pupils shall be involved in when they leave school.
Colin Sanderson, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire
Recently a maths teacher visited my company and at the end of the visit declared she now for the first time could tell the pupils how the mathematics she was teaching was actually used in the real world. Teachers need more exposure to industry so they can better inform the pupils.
Anonymous
Engineers require algebra, trigonometry and geometry as basics yet these have been in decline for a long time to make way for an emphasis on what a teacher described to me as maths for life. This isn't necessarily wrong, it just isn't quite what we need.
Chris Greatrix, Gloucester
I find it difficult to understand how anyone can function without a good grasp of maths. How else are we to know that we have been short-changed by the sandwich van?
Antony Boyle, Derby
Quality of any teaching depends on the enthusiasm and aptitude of the teacher to engage the students. When teachers are overworked and under-stimulated any quality maths learning will be difficult to achieve.
Bostjan Bezensek, Aberdeen
Most teachers I know describe modern teaching to be more about crowd control than education. If you want to be in business you'll need maths, if you want to be a tradesman you'll need maths, if you want to be a pop star it helps to know maths to calculate your earnings from your last hit record, if you want to be a drugs dealer, a basic understanding of fractions helps a lot. So... it's not so hard to make maths relevant these days.
Chris Leach, Aberdeen
Generate manufacturing projects for schoolchildren so that they have to design a product, calculate budgets, bills of materials, labour hours etc. Pupils would learn about loans, cash flow, return on investment.
Anonymous
I don't believe teaching it up to age 18 would make any difference... those still in education beyond 16 should have got it by that age.
Charles Melton, Brighton
Basing maths education around mobile-phone costs should focus the mind.
Chris Pearce, Birmingham
Making maths mandatory to 18 would discourage students from staying on at school to study other valid subjects if they have a disinterest in maths.
Clay Brooke, Plymouth
Show teenagers how maths is the foundation behind every computer game, fantasy football website and Formula One racing car.
Brian Miller, Rossendale, Lancashire
What should be compulsory is lessons in moral fibre and respect – the recent riots highlight the clear lack of it among a significant number of our youth.
Ben Zabell, Abingdon, Oxon
It should not take until 18 years of age to learn the times tables and simple arithmetic! Get it done properly in junior school. Because school failed them, my kids had to endure times tables tapes in the car and it has never left them.
Chris Jones, Hilton, Derby
- Would you like to add your Soundbite to the list? How should schools go about making maths more relevant to young students? Tell us what you think by leaving a comment below.