Numeracy campaign: half of maths teaching places vacant

Figures show 46 per cent of places are empty around six months before courses start. The Training and Development Agency for Schools, which administers the process, insisted numbers were up on last year but admitted there was “still an urgent need for even more high quality recruits”. It also emerged that courses in other subjects such as science and foreign languages – seen as vital to the country’s economic competitiveness – are also lacking trainees. According to figures, some 70 per cent of places on physics courses are still unfilled. The disclosure comes despite the introduction of generous bursary packages designed to pull graduates with top degrees into the teaching profession. For the first time this September, £20,000 will be available for students with a first-class degree to teach maths, sciences and foreign languages. Students with a 2:1 degree are set to get £15,000 to teach the most important subjects, while those with 2:2s could receive £12,000. Stephen Hillier, TDA chief executive, said: “Good teachers can make all the difference in bringing maths to life for pupils and raising standards. “Mathematicians entering the profession can rest assured that they will receive rigorous training that will include strategies for managing pupil behaviour and provide them with very good preparation for the classroom.” According to figures, 2,635 places are available on maths training courses starting in September. Some 1,432 – 54 per cent – have been filled already. The TDA said 54 per cent of foreign language training places and 53 per cent of those on chemistry courses had also been taken. But just 30 per cent of places to teach physics had been filled, it was claimed. The latest figures come amid concerns over standards of teaching in many “priority” subjects, particularly mathematics. Last week, a report showed almost half of British adults had the maths ability of an 11-year-old, leaving them struggling to manage family finances, calculate change and use transport timetables. Over the last eight years, the number of people with very poor numeracy skills has increased from 15 million to 17 million, it was revealed. It follows the launch of a campaign by The Daily Telegraph – Make Britain Count – to highlight the mathematical crisis facing the country and equip parents with the tools to boost children’s basic skill levels. Hilda Frimpong, a mathematics and ICT teacher at St Cecilia’s School in Wandsworth, south-east London, who has been enlisted by the TDA to promote the subject, said: “Maths is at the core of our everyday experience as well as many of our greatest achievements from the moon landing to the invention of the computer. “We need to capture the imagination of students, and communicate just how exciting maths can be. I enjoy the daily challenge of doing this.”