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The Science Media Centre asked mathematicians to respond to the Adrian Smith enquiry into post-14 Maths Education.
Simon Singh , mathematics writer and broadcaster, said:
“For me, the most important element in Professor Smith’s report is his “considerable concern” over the severe shortage of specialist maths teachers. We have some great maths teachers in Britain, but simply not enough. Anybody who has any confidence in or love of maths was influenced by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable teacher at some point in their life, and unless we can address the desperate maths teacher shortage then there will be a continued decline in the number of people succeeding in mathematics at GCSE, A level and degree level.
“The government needs to find out immediately why fewer people want to teach maths and why more people are leaving the profession, and then somebody needs to put in place the changes necessary to reverse the situation. This will be one of the toughest problems in education, but it has to be confronted. Failure to do so will have catastrophic implications for the nation and its economy.
“Whatever happens, the government must not take the soft option of creating a smoke screen, ignoring the problem and hoping that nobody notices or cares.”
Carol Vorderman, MBE, engineering graduate and television presenter, said:
“This report shows the extent to which our children are being failed. Whether or not you enjoy maths, no one would disagree that it is of paramount importance in any basic education. For an economy driven by technology, mathematics education can mean the difference between a successful future and that of mediocrity. You need only look to India to see how the love and skill of mathematics is providing a new wave of wealth through computing and financial services. Britain needs the same. I welcome this report, its recommendations and its demands. The crisis has been proven today. After the debacle of tutorial fees, I hope this government doesn’t let down young people in higher education for a second time in twelve months.”
Barry Lewis, Director of Count On and ex-president of Mathematical Association, said:
“I’m very pleased that mathematics is getting the sort of attention it deserves – and not a moment too soon. Different pathways for students, financial incentives for maths teachers and huge boost to continuing professional development through a national network of dedicated centers is really good news. I hope that the momentum and expectation can be turned into real progress.”
Peter Cooper, Executive Secretary of London Mathematical Society, said:
“The Society welcomes the serious attention paid to the future mathematical needs of all students. The Government’s plans to meet the challenge of the Roberts Report, and the need to recruit more mathematics specialists into teaching, requires particular attention to be given to the mathematical development of the more able students; and so welcomes the Inquiry’s recommendations on this.
“It welcomes Professor Smith’s proposals to meet the shortfall in qualified mathematics teachers. The revitalisation of school mathematics teaching is a centrally important issue and the Society reiterates its support for the plans for increased investment in enhanced training and subject-specific professional development for mathematics teachers.”
Sue Singer, Former Mathematics Teacher and Past-President of the Girls Schools Association, said:
“It is vital that we provide a mathematics curriculum that will be interesting and stimulating for all. Creative problem solving in open-ended non standard situations is the key to sparking the interest of able young people. The proposals for an enhanced curriculum up to GCSE and the encouraging schools and colleges to offer Further Mathematics are therefore of the utmost importance. It is of crucial importance for the future prosperity of the country that this report is not allowed to gather dust. It’s many recommendations must be implemented as soon as possible.”
Professor Duncan Lawson, Professor of Mathematics Education at Coventry University and Chair of Heads of Department of Mathematical Sciences (HoDoMS), said:
“We welcome the report Making Mathematics Count as giving an accurate picture of many of the problems facing mathematics education today. The report suggests many positive and imaginative ways forward and we urge the Government to implement these as a matter of urgency, including making available the recommended additional funding.
“Several of the recommendations acknowledge the role that university mathematics departments can play through closer collaboration with schools and colleges. We welcome this and will play our part in contributing in a range of the areas identified by Professor Smith.”
Doug French, The Mathematical Association, said:
“The Mathematical Association welcomes the recommendations of the Post 14 Inquiry for urgent measures to improve the supply of good mathematics teachers and to make sustained professional development available to all. There is, however, little recognition of the many factors which result in many good teachers leaving the profession and there are no clear recommendations on how the necessary time can be made available for teachers to engage in professional development.
“We very much welcome the recommendation to introduce rapidly a two tier, double award GCSE in mathematics with more challenging elements for able pupils. However, we are very concerned that the Inquiry fails to acknowledge the harmful effects of ‘teaching to the test’ which arise from excessive emphasis on external assessment at all levels and are massively exacerbated by targets and league tables.”
Dr Ivor Goddard, Director General of the Royal Statistical Society, said:
“The Royal Statistical Society welcomes the Smith report as providing a timely call to deal with a real crisis in the teaching and learning of mathematics. Particularly welcome is the stress laid on the special place and importance of statistics, as a mathematically based discipline, for learning in schools, for employment, for higher education and for general social awareness. For these reasons we believe that the appropriate place for teaching statistics in an intellectually coherent manner lies within the mathematics curriculum. We therefore reject the implication that the teaching of statistics should take place only within subjects other than mathematics.”
A spokesperson for the Open University, said:
“The Open University warmly welcomes the Report of the independent ‘Post-14 Mathematics Inquiry’, by a committee chaired by Professor Adrian Smith, and the heightened profile that it gives to mathematics in the UK.
“The University shares the deep concern of the Report over the critical national shortage of trained mathematics teachers, the small number of students with a good mathematics background from schools available to Science and Engineering, the declining number of students studying mathematics in the sixth form, and the poor impression of mathematics held by many schoolchildren. Mathematics and English are core subjects that should be mastered by all educated adults, if the United Kingdom is to remain competitive internationally.”