Education: English children falter in maths

Standards in primary schools will come under the spotlight again this week, with another report showing English children slipping down the international league table.

Nine-year-olds will be shown to be struggling with basic maths, lagging substantially behind children from countries in the Pacific Rim and eastern Europe.

The report came as the Government prepares this week to launch a drive to promote more teaching of the three Rs in primary schools. Ministers have proposed that schools should spend an hour a day on reading and writing.

They are also likely to demand more time for arithmetic in the wake of the latest study of half a million nine-year-olds in 26 countries. Due out on Tuesday, it is expected to show roughly the same results as last year's worldwide survey of 13-year-olds.

The Third International Maths and Science Stud found that English 13- year-olds got an average of only 53 per cent of maths questions correct.