Gillian Keegan was put on the spot by Sky News host Niall Paterson over the Conservatives’ own inaction over what the government has called the UK’s “anti-maths mindset”.
The education secretary was speaking on Monday, hours before prime minister Rishi Sunak was set to unveil his plans to make maths education until 18 compulsory again, having first pitched the idea back in January.
He’s expected to say: “We’ve got to change this anti-maths mindset. We’ve got to start prizing numeracy for what it is – a key skill every bit as essential as reading.”
But, as host Paterson pointed out, the Conservatives have had plenty of opportunities to change public attitudes to maths during their 13 years in power.
Noting that then education minister Liz Truss spoke out about the UK’s supposed deficiency in maths back in 2012, Peterson said: “If there are problems with maths provision in this country, surely it is the fault of the government who have been in, it’s more than the fingers on two of my hands, but I think roughly, 13 years?”
Keegan replied: “2012 was when she said that, and she was correct in 2012. We completely revolutionised how we teach maths in this country in 2015.”
She claimed that the UK replicated the Singaporean method of teaching maths at the time.
But, Paterson interrupted and noted: “Liz Truss was saying that in 2012, Sunak is today saying we’ve an anti-maths mindset. But there’s only one group of people we can blame for that.”
Keegan said: “We’ve introduced mastery into all of our primary schools and now into secondary schools, and we have 40 expert maths hubs helping people teach that.”
The Sky News host pointed out that you can’t recruit teachers in 2023.
Keegan continued: “We also have what’s called MPQs to enable existing teachers at primary level to get more comfortable teaching maths.”
She said bursaries are in place to get more maths teachers, and that the government has reformed GCSEs and A Levels, before adding: “Maths is now the number one A Level choice.”
But just minutes later, BBC Breakfast’s Sally Nugent noted the same issue with the Conservatives’ latest messaging, asking Keegan: “Is that an admission of failure, after so many years of Tory government, that children are not learning maths to the level they should be?”
“Not at all,” the minister replied. “That gives us a lot of confidence because of all the changes we’ve made.”
Meanwhile, members of the National Education Union in England are expected to still strike later this month and in May after rejecting the government’s latest offer.
They are looking for above-inflation increases and guarantees that any pay rises do not come out of schools’ existing budgets.