Maths — Not Just for Bank Managers

In a recent speech, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged to “reimagine our approach to numeracy” and will make it his mission to make learning Maths to the age of 18 compulsory.

The best part of this speech was the almost instant message I got from my best mate, Nick, who stated that he left school at 16 with a Maths O Level and didn’t see the point in carrying on until 18. What was another 3 years of studying going to prove?! I thought this was hilarious until I heard the exact same joke on the Ken Bruce Radio 2 Show the next morning and then it wasn’t so cool.

I hated Maths at school. I had a fantastic teacher, great classmates and was okay at the subject but a double Maths lesson was painful. I was naïve enough to think that basic numeracy was all that was required in life and at the end of the day these new-fangled computer things could do the work (they were relatively new during my school days!).

I was one of the first pupils allowed to use a calculator in Maths and Physics O Levels (which continues to date me) and I remember my old Texas Instruments calculator with hundreds of functions (which I barely understood) and was the size of a brick. I loved the calculator but hated the subjects!

I did learn however that although my calculator did the donkey work for me, I still needed to understand what to input and how to interpret the results.

I did enough study to pass an exam and was pleased that I got a job in the real world that had nothing to do with Maths. Bank Managers, accountants, shopkeepers, Chancellor of The Exchequer – you know those types of jobs, where adding up is a key factor in life.

My ignorance was the application of Maths in the real world and this was probably down to a combination of the 1970/80’s curriculum and my lack of passion for the subject.

Fast-forward several years and I find myself involved in the world of Cryptography. Suddenly Calculus and Modulus have something to do with my life.

Fast forward several more years and inputting data into spreadsheets, creating formula to produce calculated results and interpreting the results becomes a key factor in my day to day life. (Still not as a Bank Manager).

Fast-forward several more years and managing schedules, dates, times and budgets becomes a feature as I moved up the food chain to start managing stuff and part of procurement and development teams.

Keep fast-forwarding to other roles, responsibilities, and a shed load of skills that all require a decent knowledge and understanding of Maths:

• Risk calculations
• Threat and Risk Matrices
• Logical thinking
• Statistics
• Data analysis
• Impact assessments
• Budget controls
• Spread sheet creation

The list is endless. And the list applies to all jobs within the digital field (and beyond): IT, Cybersecurity, Data Analysis, Software Dev to name a few.

It’s not just adding up and learning multiplication tables. Numeracy and mathematics opens your eyes to all kinds of learning which amount to a whole load of transferable skills in the working world. This should not be a surprise to any of us.

There were several times in my working life when I had that hallelujah moment where suddenly my Maths teacher made sense. Albeit 30 odd years too late!

I think Rishi’s ‘mission’ is well founded. However, ‘applied’ mathematics will be the key to success and with a clever curriculum which brings the subject to life, allows for learners to employ the latest technology and develop a logical mind, troubleshoot problems and produce results which mean something and make a difference—will make this a mission we could all probably support.

That way Maths is not just for Bank Managers and Chancellors, it’s for all of us.

Count long and prosper!

 

Photo: SchoolsWeek.co.uk