ACME comments on the Maths Task Force report
08 August 2011
Commenting on the maths task force report led by Carol
Vorderman, A world-class mathematics education for all our
young people, Professor Dame Julia Higgins, Chair of the
Advisory Committee on Mathematics (ACME), said:
"We are pleased to see the importance of an excellent
mathematical education being highlighted by another major report.
Carol's work taps into one of the biggest concerns of not only the
mathematics community, but also of higher education and business,
that too few people study mathematics up to the age of 18.
In ACME's Mathematical
Needs reports we describe the importance of further study
of mathematics to the workplace and higher education, and the
Vorderman report reaffirms our conclusion that we need a broad set
of mathematics qualifications that are designed to meet everyone's
needs - A-level mathematics alone can't provide this. We hope that
the government will act on this recommendation, as it is a key step
to ensuring that future generations are suitably prepared for the
challenges of a highly competitive and technologically-dependent
world.
At present, some students aren't even studying mathematics up to
16 - early entry to GCSE mathematics is increasing dramatically,
and, with league tables in mind, some schools interpret achieving a
grade C at the age of 14 as permission to drop the subject and
focus their attention elsewhere. The Government needs to act now to
clarify this situation, and send the message that mathematics isn't
something you can just 'get out of the way' if you want to compete
in the modern world."
The
CBI, the Royal
Society,
MEI and the NCETM have also
commented on the report.
You can find the report
here.