Education: English children falter in maths
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.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.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments