Rishi Sunak wants all students to study maths at least till age 18

• Rishi Sunak will outline his priorities for his premiership.
• The administration is dealing with a wave of walkouts.
• Mr. Sunak will also lay out his plans for the upcoming months.

The prime minister is considering ways to guarantee that all English students study math in some capacity till age 18.

Rishi Sunak will outline his priorities for his premiership, which include addressing backlogs in the health care, in his first speech of 2023.

The administration is dealing with a wave of walkouts, a crisis in the cost of living, and enormous strain on the NHS.

After the political unrest of the previous year, Mr. Sunak will be eager to use his address to demonstrate his expertise and lay forth ideas.

Mr. Sunak is anticipated to elaborate on his goals for the UK and refer back to remarks he made in December about providing “peace of mind” for the populace.

As opponents demand rapid solutions to what is generally perceived as a crisis in the NHS this winter, he is anticipated to mention issues with getting an ambulance, waiting periods for planned operations, and social care in England in his speech.

According to those close to Mr. Sunak, he believes that having more than a few goals at once is equivalent to having none at all.

The government is “confident” that it is “giving the NHS with the money it needs,” according to No. 10’s statement on Tuesday.

Senior doctors have warned that some accident and emergency departments are in a “full state of catastrophe,” but opposition parties have accused the prime minister of being “absent in action.”

Since the Conservatives are performing poorly in the polls, Mr. Sunak will also be eager to outline the other objectives of his administration.

Mr. Sunak is anticipated to declare that the UK must “reimagine our approach to numeracy” in phrases that have been briefed to journalists in advance of the speech.

“Our children’s employment will require more analytical skills than ever before in a world where data is everywhere and statistics underpin every job,” he will remark.

And sending our kids out into the world without such abilities is disappointing them.

Mr. Sunak estimates that just 50% of 16 to 19-year-olds take math classes, but this number includes students enrolled in scientific courses and those taking their required GCSE retakes in college.

There are no imminent proposals for new credentials, and there are no plans to make A-levels mandatory, so it is unclear what the plans will entail for students who want to pursue humanities or creative arts qualifications, including BTecs.

Instead, a Downing Street spokeswoman said, the government is looking into “new innovative possibilities” as well as broadening current qualifications.

The notion lacks details on how it would operate, making it seem more like a desire than a fully formed programme.

Although the prime minister is anticipated to start working on the plan in current parliament, the administration understands that it would not be possible to implement before the next general election.

In order to reverse the real terms cuts of the previous ten years, the Autumn Statement announced an additional £2.3 billion in core school funding for students aged five to sixteen over the following two years.

However, neither sixth form colleges nor further education colleges, which instruct many of the most disadvantaged 16 to 18-year-olds, received any additional cash.

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There is a “chronic nationwide shortage of math teachers,” according to the Association of School and College Leaders.

Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary for Labour, also urged Mr. Sunak to “show his working” on how he plans to pay for increased math participation.

She said that the government has consistently fallen short of its goal for hiring more math teachers. “He cannot deliver this reheated, meaningless statement without more math instructors,” she said.

Munira Wilson, the education spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, referred to the goal as “the prime minister’s admission of failure on behalf of a Conservative government that has so severely neglected our children’s education.”

She said, “Too many kids are falling behind in math, and it happens long before they are 16.”

The education committee’s chair, Tory MP Robin Walker, asked the prime minister to emphasise childcare.

He said on Radio 4’s Today programme, “It’s excellent to hear the prime minister today committing to maths beyond 16.” “However, they won’t have the opportunities to thrive in the school system if we don’t find the appropriate approach to stimulating and nurturing youngsters early on.”

The year ahead

Mr. Sunak will also lay out his plans for the upcoming months in his speech on Wednesday.

He took office toward the close of a contentious political year that witnessed the defeat of his two predecessors, Liz Truss and Boris Johnson, by Conservative backbenchers.

While coping with the rising cost of living and strikes in numerous industries, including nursing and the rail industry, Mr. Sunak faces the difficulty of keeping his own MPs satisfied.

In his greeting for the new year, he stated, “I’m not going to pretend that all our difficulties will go away in the new year,” but added that, as Britain continued to help Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, “the very best of Britain” would be on show.

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