By Cllr Lucy Nethsingha, Combined Authority board member and chair of skills and employment committee.
“I’m rubbish at maths.” “I don’t have a head for numbers.” When it comes to numeracy in the UK, these all-too-common phrases point to an unfortunate truth.
As a country our maths skills, and that includes Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, are not good enough.
To give an idea of the scale of the challenge, charity National Numeracy’s research found that half of the working age adults in this country have the maths skills of a primary school child, and said that levels of numeracy – poor by developed country standards – represented a “crisis” for the UK.
Wednesday was their flagship National Numeracy Day, which, I’m sure to the relief of many, is not about brushing up on your long division or algebra. This awareness-raising day is about tackling one of the biggest barriers to people getting better with numbers – confidence.
And believe me, as a politician, I’m only too aware of how a lack of maths confidence can affect anyone. Many a high-profile MP or minister has been left panicking, fumbling or stumbling live on air when, unexpectedly, their maths skills have been put on the spot by a probing interviewer.
But if National Numeracy Day is about one thing, it’s about tackling how people feel about numbers, diffusing that anxiety which so many of us feel, and providing the resources to help people improve. For many, simply understanding that maths is a skill that can be learned and improved, just like any other, can be revelatory.
The National Numeracy website has lots of maths resources and case studies of people who have changed their attitude to numbers. Their flagship National Numeracy Challenge is a fun way to have a little check-in on where your maths is at.
At the Combined Authority, we also fund a programme of flexible maths courses, free for qualifying adults, aimed at improving practical skills for those who need it in our region. Both through the Government-funded Multiply programme, and through adult education, there a large range of courses which are designed for the challenges of modern life.
National Numeracy puts the cost to the economy of our lack of numeracy at £25 billion, and such figures are handy to get policymakers to take notice, but of course there’s the bigger picture of the cost to health and quality of life that is the result of poor number skills.
That means more vulnerability to the terrible financial fraud and scams we see all too often, or the ability to budget in a cost-of-living crisis, or simply feeling like a lack of maths ability is another thing holding back getting a better job or advancing in the workplace.
Multiply courses are practical to everyday life and are certainly not about ‘going back to school’ and digging out those old textbooks. They include personal finance, covering debt, tax, pensions, bills, mortgages and more. There’s courses for parents wanting to help children with homework, courses on the maths involved in cooking, and a range of courses helping people advance in careers, including ones tailored to those on zero hours contracts and insecure work. There’s also Multiply courses for prison leavers and for people where English is a second language.
Of course, turning around our number skills will take a concerted policy and investment effort by Government over many years. But the good news is there is practical help and action people can take now, including some really useful, functional courses which can be taken flexibly, fitting in with busy lives.
Visit the National Numeracy website today: nationalnumeracy.org.uk where there are lots of resources to get you started in improving your confidence and skill.
Find a Multiply course to improve your maths skills: growthworkswithskills.com/individuals-hub/training-development/multiply-maths-skills-for-life/
