02/02/09 - Cllr Justin Tomlinson Backs Conservative Plans For A Maths Taskforce

David Cameron has announced that Carol Vorderman is to lead a new Conservative Party Maths Taskforce to make maths teaching in Britain’s state schools as good as anywhere else in the world. He has also launched an online and poster campaign, “Let’s make Britain top of the class in Maths”.

David Cameron speech at the launch:

“There is a message that I want the Conservative Party to extend to every child in this country: dream about what you want to achieve in life because we will give you the opportunity to turn those dreams into a reality.

CONSERVATIVE CHANGE

Let me tell you about my own dream. I want Britain to have the best schools in the world. Schools which meet every child’s particular needs, where they will make friends and feel safe, where they will be stretched and inspired.This isn’t some mythical fantasy land.

So what are we going to do to turn this round? The Conservative Party is clear. We've outlined exciting plans to give schools more freedom – freedom to drive up standards for their own students and help others.  We’ve also explained how we can ensure many more brilliant new state schools are created by organisations who have a passion for giving every child the best in life.
 
We envisage academy status – with all the freedoms it brings to generate success freedoms which have been used brilliantly here will become the norm for state schools. These big structural changes are crucial if we’re to have the sort of revolutionary change I think is necessary to make our schools the best in the world.  But these changes are very far from being the limit of our plans.

From day one, a Conservative Government will launch the most far-reaching, thorough and zealous commitment to improving standards in all our schools. That means a commitment to discipline. So when a head teacher says a disruptive pupil has got to go – we’ll make sure they’ll go. That means a commitment to rigour. So when some exam board wants to dumb down and passes are handed out for substandard work – we’ll say no.

And that means a commitment to the right methods. So when the educational establishment tries to drive through more changes like getting rid of proper subject teaching changes which will only ensure our children end up learning less then we will stop them in their tracks and ensure parents get what they want - every child taught the right disciplines with the right methods. That way, we can get the basics in place from the start so that our children develop a passion for learning - for life.

MATHS

And it’s in this respect I have an important announcement to make. When it comes to what those disciplines are, and how they are taught, I believe there few things more important than getting maths in our schools right.

The argument for the importance of maths is often made in terms of what it means to a person’s intellectual development. The fact that basic numeracy is not a nice-to-have, it’s a must have. From checking your bank balance, to doing the weekly shop or making the most of the sales being able to add, subtract, times and divide is something we rely on often without thinking about it.

The fact that maths stretches and challenges a child’s mind, giving them analytical and problem solving skills that will stay with them for life. And the fact that maths is so often the grounding for other, equally tough, academic disciplines like economics, physics and chemistry. But, to be honest, I think we’ve got to do a lot better than that. Indeed, if I was a teenager sitting here listening to that, I’d probably be snoring by now too.

No, I believe there’s a stronger, more exciting argument for maths to be made. Exciting because of what it means for our future. And exciting because of the way it could inspire our children. Just think of any technological innovation of recent years – you know the stuff you can’t live without, the stuff in your bag, in your bedroom, and what you share with friends.

I guarantee almost everything would not have been possible without maths. Facebook or Myspace. Couldn’t have happened without maths – as web designers use it every day to know how big to make the pages, what graphics need to be used and how to fit images on the page. The Ipod. Couldn’t have happened without maths – as the maths of error-correcting codes is vital to making sure it works. Or what about video games? They can’t be made without maths – indeed, our leading video game manufacturers are crying out for people with maths skills to create, develop and program those ever-realisitic games which you all play.

But it’s not just in terms of technological innovation.  Maths is absolutely vital to so many of the career paths and life choices that people today want to pursue. If you want a career in sports physiology so you work with the best athletes to make sure they are at the top of their game, you’ll need maths to understand how the body works. If you want a career in environmental protection, you’ll need an understanding of maths and statistics so you get to grips with population movements and understand why they are happening. Or what about the most exciting frontier of all – space travel?

If you don’t understand maths equations, you will never be in a position to send the next Voyager out into space and unlock the mysteries of our universe and our existence. This is the argument we must make for maths. For our technological advancement. For the opportunities of the future we’ve got to inspire the children of today to do maths – and to do it well.

Indeed, as we survey our battered economy, this is now more important than ever. Just imagine if we were the best in the world at maths. Imagine the products we could develop and export. Imagine the jobs we could create. Imagine the wealth, prosperity and careers we could all enjoy.

PROBLEM TODAY

But we’ve got a real problem in this country. When you look at the vision of what can be and compare it to what’s happening right now, the numbers just don’t add up. Nearly half of all eleven year olds leave primary school without basic numeracy skills. Under Labour, more than three and a half million children have left school without at least a ‘C’ in maths GSCE. And our top universities have to do remedial Maths courses for science undergraduates to get them up to scratch. That’s why we’ve slipped from eighth in the international league tables for maths just eight years ago to twenty-fourth today.

CAROL VORDERMAN

I believe it’s an absolute outrage that we’re failing our children – and our country – like this. For an individual’s personal development, for our collective prosperity, let’s make Britain top of the class for Maths. It’s time for change. And that change starts today.

I am delighted to announce that Carol Vorderman has agreed to lead a new Conservative Party Maths Taskforce. Carol is the perfect choice. She’s a well-respected public figure who not only knows maths inside out, but also how to extend that knowledge to a wider audience in an interesting and inspirational way.

And Carol will leave no stone unturned in the task I have set her: to make maths teaching in Britain’s state schools as good as anywhere else in the world. For example, this taskforce will look into how curriculae have changed and how they can be improved so they are as rigorous as possible.

We don't have to argue about whether the Government has devalued exams. We know it has because studies have shown that the same performance which would have secured just a D grade in A-Level Maths in 1997 now secures you a B. And we know the top independent schools are abandoning GCSEs for new tougher international exams such as the international GCSE – while state schools are forced to stick to the standard GCSE.

This is absurd and has got to change. Every school in Britain should be able to do the same high quality exams that now only private schools are allowed to do so we really stretch our children. Another area this taskforce will look at is how we can encourage more top graduates into teaching.

It’s amazing to think that more than half of those qualified to teach maths in our schools don’t even have a degree in maths. We’ve got to look at what we can do – in terms of pay and training – to encourage our brightest to teach. And this is related to something else this taskforce will look at – how we can get schools to attract and retain the best staff.

From my own experience as a student to my time visiting schools in this job, I have seen for myself what a difference a great teacher makes versus an ineffective one. So we must give head teachers more control of their budgets so they can reward good teachers better and recruit specialist maths and science teachers and give poorer schools extra funding so they can recruit the best teachers. I look forward to hearing what Carol has to say on all these issues.

CONCLUSION

A little over a hundred years ago, its Maths Professor - William Burnside – wrote his ‘Theory of Groups’. It was a theory that went on to unlock some of the most important mysteries in physics, chemistry and material science. It’s a reminder of the tradition we have of producing some of the finest Mathematicians in the world – all of whom have lifted humanity to greater heights.

But, perhaps more interestingly, it’s this theory that lies behind some of our favourite games and puzzles – like the Rubik’s Cube. It just goes to show that maths isn’t all about number crunching in a darkened room – important though that is. It’s the platform for just everything else upon which we depend. The homes we live in, the cars we drive, the games we play. Without maths our lives would be economically, socially and culturally poorer. So let’s begin the work of change today to enrich our tomorrow.”

Cllr Justin Tomlinson, Swindon North Parliamentary Candidate, "At school I thoroughly enjoyed Maths both at GCSE and A'Level.  Maths is so intergral in modern society and equipping the young with essential skills will pay dividends.''