19 June 2008
The government is to invest £24m in training specialist primary school maths teachers and offering them incentives, following a review into current provision.
Accepting the findings of the review into early maths teaching by Sir Peter Williams, published on June 17, Schools Secretary Ed Balls said: 'I want every primary school to have a specialist maths teacher. That means every school will have a “maths champion” who will act as a mentor and coach to their colleagues as well as being an outstanding classroom teacher for their pupils.'
Balls said children should not be afraid of numbers and that 'basic maths concepts and language need to be firmly embedded in children's minds at a young age'.
Williams, chancellor at the University of Leicester, said: 'The United Kingdom is still one of the few advanced nations where it is socially acceptable to profess an inability to cope with mathematics. We need to urgently reverse this trend so every pupil leaves primary school without a fear of maths.'
He estimated it would take ten years and cost £187m to train the specialists needed.
PFjun2008
