The sound of chanting comes from a classroom: "Two and two are four... four and four are eight... eight and eight are sixteen... sixteen and sixteen are thirty-two..." Shaking his head, the passing storyteller stops to look at something far more interesting: a tiny inchwormA type of caterpillar. on a cluster of marigold flowers. "Seems to me," he sings, "you'll stop and see how beautiful they are."

This is a scene from the classic film Hans Christian Andersen, about the great Danish teller of fairy tales. The message of the song is that some people are too obsessed with things like maths to notice the wonder and poetry of the world around them. Andersen might well have put Rishi SunakA British politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2022 to 2024. in this category.

In a speech on Monday, Sunak repeated his determination to make maths compulsory for all school pupils in England until they are 18. He added, though, that they would not all have to take A-levelsThe national exams taken by 17 and 18-year-olds in parts of the UK. A-level grades are used to determine university places. . At present maths is compulsory up to 16.

Sunak argued that without the change children - and Britain - would be at a disadvantage when it came to jobs and business in a highly competitive world where handling data is very important.

He claims that the country has an "anti-maths mindset", in which people make a joke of being bad at the subject. No one, he pointed out, would boast of being illiterateBeing unable to read or write. : "We've got to start prizing numeracy for what it is - a key skill every bit as essential as reading."

Poor numeracy, he said, was costing Britain "tens of billions a year". Those who suffer from it are twice as likely to be unemployed as those who do not.

There are other sobering statistics. Nearly a third of 16-year-olds in England fail maths GCSEThe national exams taken by 15 and 16-year-olds in parts of the UK. each year, and only a fifth of those pass their resits. Over eight million adults have maths skills worse than those expected of a nine-year-old in school.

But critics wonder how Sunak's goal can be achieved when the country is already short of maths teachers. Targets for recruiting new ones have not been met for over 10 years.¹ And if a pupil cannot reach GCSE standard, how is he or she going to cope with more advanced maths?

There are other objections - including some from people Sunak expected to support him. Stephen Follows, a leading film data analyst, was asked to be a "maths champion" for the campaign, but says: ²

"Financial literacy, emotional intelligence, compassion and the ability to build healthy relationships are just a few areas where our current education system falls short. To prioritise maths over these skills is short-sighted, out of touch and grossly unfair."

He adds that making maths compulsory till 18 "risks stifling the passions and interests of individual students, the very qualities that education should be cultivating".

And journalist Rebecca Reid, who admits to being bad at maths, argues that education should be focused on the pure joy of learning - "and we don't all draw that joy from the same sources".

Yes: We live in a data-driven world in which being able to crunch numbers is a key skill. Most of the best-paid jobs are in areas like tech and finance, for which being good at maths is essential.  

No: Most people can get by with very basic maths. Thanks to calculators and AI, numeracy is not very important at all. Literacy opens a world of imagination which is far more exciting and stimulating.     

Or... Both are highly important - but so are a lot of other things, as Stephen Follows points out. Studying poetry, good relationships, music and drama should all be compulsory until 18.

Inchworm - A type of caterpillar.

Rishi Sunak - A British politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2022 to 2024.

A-levels - The national exams taken by 17 and 18-year-olds in parts of the UK. A-level grades are used to determine university places.

Illiterate - Being unable to read or write.

GCSE - The national exams taken by 15 and 16-year-olds in parts of the UK.