The “intergenerational cycle of poor numeracy” must be broken by focusing on numeracy skills in the early years, according to a House of Lords report.
The government has been told it should also provide teacher training for identifying dyscalculia and sustain its investment in recruiting specialist maths teachers.
The House of Lords Numeracy for Life Committee highlights in its report that 8 million adults have skills below those expected of a nine-year-old, and warns that having poor numeracy skills “makes it harder to lead a fulfilling life”.
The intergenerational cycle of poor numeracy and acceptance of poor numeracy are a “major barrier” to numeracy skills for young children, advises the cross-party group.
Many adults ‘lack numeracy skills’
The report says: “Many are undermined by a lack of confidence with numbers, and some simply give up, believing they are ‘not a maths person’.
“Most importantly, that anxiety can become entrenched in families, and fears are passed on to children. That is a cycle that must be broken.”
The committee calls for and NHS child development and school-readiness guidance to be updated to include specific numeracy milestones and activities for babies and children, including counting to 10 and using spatial concepts such as “up”, “down” and “inside”.
A national year of numeracy should be established - equivalent to the existing National Year of Reading - and numeracy should not be treated as “less important” than literacy in government education policy, the report adds.
It recommends that the government sustains its investment in the recruitment of specialist maths teachers in schools.
The committee also urges the government to ensure that teachers receive training on dyscalculia, otherwise they can feel “unprepared” to support pupils.
Disadvantaged children ‘struggle more’
Lord Agnew, chair of the House of Lords Numeracy for Life Committee, said: “Numeracy impacts the everyday life of millions in their work, raising children, buying a home, managing health and finances and preparing for retirement.
“Whilst there is much to celebrate with the improvement in maths attainment in schools and progress made in adult numeracy, the reality is that over 8 million adults still have numeracy skills below those expected of a nine-year-old, and children from areas of high deprivation are still more likely to struggle with maths in school.”
He added: “Our report calls for the intergenerational cycle of poor numeracy to be broken through an increased focus on early years numeracy, the recruitment of maths specialists in schools and more focus and work on supporting and signposting adults to access work and community learning opportunities.
“This will not only empower them to meet and manage daily tasks and finances with renewed confidence but also help build the economy.”
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