UK PM Rishi Sunak says it's not okay to be bad at maths: 'I won't sit back'

Critics have accused Rishi Sunak of trying to distract from the ongoing strike action in schools.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will continue taking measures to help create awareness and get the public to learn mathematics until the age of 18.

The PM is expected to insist that the subject is important and "as essential as reading" and failure to get better in maths could prove to be detrimental for the economy.

Sunak is expected to form a new advisory panel that will look into a potential new maths qualification for the population aged between 16 and 18.

"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. I won't sit back and allow this cultural sense that it's OK to be bad at maths to put our children at a disadvantage.

"My campaign to transform our national approach to maths is not some nice to have. It's about changing how we value maths in this country," Sunak is expected to say on Monday.

Despite growing substantially in the international education league tables in the last ten years, UK remains one of the poorest economies as far as numeracy is concerned, among the OECD nations.

More than eight million have numeracy skills less than those expected of a nine-year-old and around one-third of students don't pass the GCSE maths exam.

"If we are going to grow the economy not just over the next two years, but the next 20, we simply cannot allow poor numeracy to cost our economy tens of billions a year or to leave people twice as likely to be unemployed as those with competent numeracy.

"We have to fundamentally change our education system so it gives our young people the knowledge and skills they need – and that our businesses need – to compete with the best in the world," Sunak is expected to add.

Critics have accused Sunak of trying to distract from the ongoing strike action in schools, while opponents complained there were insufficient maths to execute the idea.