69 thoughts on “Sum Hope

    1. classter

      Whatever the failings of Project Maths, it would be ridiculous to blame it for the result above since it is a relatively new approach.

      This survey is effectively measuring the standard of numeracy achieved by people over the last 14-25 years (18-29 year olds).

      The other point is that Project maths was introduced to try (and I don;t know enough to know whether it is doing so or not) to counter the problem of poor performance in this area which we already knew about.

        1. Owen

          Yeah, but do you not have to carry the ‘s? Or is that only for plural?

          You’d think Id remember this. I did honors math(carry the s).

          Is there an Asian on here that can help us out?

  1. Fergus the magic postman

    South Korea at the bottom there. If you don’t learn your tables in North Korea your number’s up, which keeps them off the chart.
    Works a bit like Burton’s unemployment figures. Dear unemployed person. Please emigrate.

    1. Anne

      Looks like only H spotted it..

      You and you have the Medium sized pea brain sneering at Lilly Allen below. heeheheh..

          1. Anne

            “this is the thing about 22.3% is not a thrid of us, no?”

            huh? Is this Frilly?

            I’m not sure what you’re saying, but 22.3% aint a third last time I checked..

            Ever have an English person asking you to say ‘thirty, three and a third’ and roaring their asses laughing at you?

  2. Medium Sized C

    In other news, Lilly Allen thinks that people should be taught how to do tax returns instead of pythagoras theorem.

    1. Kieran NYC

      Why not both? I think there’s a strong case for financial maths and basic economic theory to be compulsory at some point in school.

      1. Medium Sized C

        I’m not entirely sure filling out a tax return counts as financial maths or basic economic theory.
        I’m prepared to accept that maybe they don’t have an equivalent of business studies in school in the UK. I know that both those things can be taken in school over here.

        I think it is more important to challenge and develop young minds in school than to make proper functioning efficient little robots for the bureaucracy. And I think mathematical concepts will develop spatial and numeric reasoning abilities which are more generally applicable.

        The mathematical components in economic theory and financial maths are taught in school maths. As is reading and writing. Which give you the necessary faculties to fill out a tax return.

  3. Anne

    ‘22.3%.
    That’s more than a third of us.’

    haw haw haw..

    Any of ye math genius commenters spot that, no?

      1. Anne

        Don’t wha? It’s so obvious, ye all spotted it but didn’t mention as it was so obvious and the obvious doesn’t need stating is it? I’d be more inclined to think Occam’s razor applies.

    1. Owen

      Don’t be absurd Anne! It’s not a percentage of population! It’s 22 standard Catholics and a midget.

      1. meadowlark

        Including this one…

        Tut tut

        No gold stars but a big spoonful of irony, delivered by Alannis Morrisette

        1. Dόn 'The Unstoppable Force' Pídgéόní

          Alanis does an agony aunt column in the Guardian now – so far, no irony, which has been disappointing

      1. Micko

        Well that link didn’t help at all Bertie!

        Fecking reading

        Have ya not got a video I can watch or sumitt

      1. Anne

        I wouldn’t worry about it.. .they’re practically non existent now anyways.

        “Tracker variable rate / tracker mortgages – this is set at a fixed percentage or ‘margin’ above the ECB rate. For example, it could be set at the ECB rate plus one percentage point. So, if the ECB rate rises by a percentage point, so does your rate. It will also ‘track’ the ECB rate when this rate goes down.”

        Most banks don’t want you having a Tracker mortgage these days, nor do they offer them.. they don’t want to ‘track’ the ECB rate.. they want to go way above it. They’re not passing on any ECB rate deductions either.

        The banks are offering all sorts of pay outs and whatnot to get people off of Tracker rates.. as they’d be making way more on standard variable rates from people.

        Baldy said the banks are offering good fixed term mortgage rates.. so nothing to see here, on the exorbitant standard variable rates the banks are charging in excess of the ECB rates. The banks have carte blanche to act as they please..
        The ordinary person picking up the tab for the banking crisis, again. That’s about the gist of it..

          1. Anne

            I realised the ad he was referring to from Andy’s condescending comment earlier, you goon.. trot along now and find some other girl’s pig tales to pull.. you never know it might work sometime.

            ‘oh bless your youth.. oh you must be under 20 if you don’t recall the ad.’ And this is maturity? From the mouth of twits..

          2. Owen

            Geeze Anne. No need to throw the toys out of the pram. Just a bit of craic really. Andys comment made me think of the add, but after I commented, so I added it. Its a funny add. 2007 would you believe!

            But its ok, your over the top reaction totally reaffirms you as a mature, confident individual that does not take things like this to serious, and understands hypocrisy.

  4. bisted

    …anyone who heard Ryan Tubridy on radio this morning ranting about mathematics would understand these figures. That the national broadcaster would allow this clown to suggest that the maths taught at school is not relevant is revealing…that it permits him to host the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition shows hypocrisy.

    1. Caroline

      Crazy. If they thought mandatory consent classes were patronising, wait til it’s mandatory spelling and times tables…

      1. MoyestWithExcitement

        have/of, your/you’re, their/they’re. I see this crap everywhere. I’ve got to think social media and texting has something to do with it.

        1. meadowlark

          Must say I find the English syllabus in secondary school to be dreadful. Independent thought is not encouraged, and frequently marked down, and critical thinking is not included in the syllabus. It’s dreadfully backward.

        2. The Old Boy

          Sorry Moyest, you can’t blame social media for that. The generation under twenty-five write far more than we ever did thanks to social media. The literacy problem is the result of years of disastrous education policy and it’s amazing how well they are doing in spite of it.

          1. ReproBertie

            I’d say a lack of reading has a big part to play in the whole spelling and you’re/your malarky.

            Give a hoot. Read a book.

          2. MoyestWithExcitement

            “The generation under twenty-five write far more than we ever did thanks to social media.”

            But it’s about *what* they’re writing. Social media posts are generally not thought out, they’re written lazily. So bad habits form and then they spread and influence others. Some people will see ‘I would of’ on their Facebook feed and start using it themselves. But. It’s just a theory.

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