Finance > Maths = Success

In January, Rishi Sunak announced he wants all students in England to study maths until the age of 18 to "better equip them for the workplace".

Four months on, no progress has been made, not least because there are not enough teachers to deliver any incentive.

---

This new maths policy has been opposed by all quarters. I feel though, had he opted for personal finance over maths, the announcement may well have been applauded instead of pilloried. As with most things from this out of touch premier, the thoughts may be well intentioned, but the delivery and messaging is all wrong.

As with Gordon Brown, Rishi’s ideas would surely be best served from behind the curtain.

But his fascination for the top job, like Brown, may well be his undoing.

There’s no doubt he has a big brain, but man of the people he is not.

The evidence m’lud?

Well we have the £180 coffee mug…that petrol photo…his (and his wife’s) tax affairs…his excruciating exchange asking a homeless man at a shelter “if he had any plans for the weekend”.

Evidence that was there for all to see as early as a 2001 BBC documentary when the then-21-year-old Sunak boasted of the breadth of his friendships. He said: “I have friends who are aristocrats, I have friends who are upper-class, I have friends who are, you know, working-class,”. “Well, not working class.”

I could go on, but we get the picture! He just doesn’t know how to be with, or have any empathy for, real people.

Then we come to this latest announcement that all pupils in England should study maths until age 18 to “better equip themselves for the workplace”.

He does realise the majority of the workforce aren’t employed in hedge funds?

There are several issues.

Firstly, a large proportion of the populace genuinely dislike maths. Asked what their least favourite subject at school was, adults will provide the top two answers of maths and PE.

Then we have the shortage of maths teachers that would prevent this from being delivered in the first place.

Lastly, no practical everyday maths comes from that taught above GCSE.

I speak as someone who studied maths to degree level at university but still reaches for a calculator for the most basic of calculations.

As someone who works with figures every day and never uses a formula more advanced than GCSE.

As someone who sat with two children through their maths GCSEs and saw one struggle with problems that were solved naturally by the other.

Maths is not for everyone.

We don’t need more maths. We need different maths.

The level of GCSE maths is more than enough to equip everyone for the workplace in the one crucial area all schools are lacking; the absence of any sort of content on basic personal finance skills.

The need for personal finance education has never been more pressing now we have moved from the reliance on employers via final salary pensions to the individual responsibility of savings through workplace savings.

As part of our ongoing service, we are happy to speak with your children and grandchildren on financial questions they have when they start work, anything from getting a first mortgage to pension fund choices.

It’s not long though, before the conversation is brought round to “what are your thoughts on crypto Steve?”. Every conversation, with every millennial, bar none.

In this age of unfettered social media, where unregulated accounts promise high returns and the allure of quick profits, it is essential that young people are pre-armed with the basics of personal finance, including budgeting, saving, investing, risk and debt management.

I would argue for it to become a subject in its own right.

As students must continue PE after age 16 in the form of “games”, so should students continue maths after age 16 in the form of “personal finance”.

In addition to adding the subject to the curriculum from age 16, schools could also invite guest speakers, such as financial advisors or experts, to give talks or conduct workshops on personal finance to younger pupils, or partner with financial literacy program providers. HSBC and PWC already provide free access to this for parents and teachers who are interested in running these types of sessions.

Conclusion

Maths skills are certainly important, but they alone do not guarantee financial literacy.

To be financially literate, students need to learn practical skills they can apply in their everyday live, and a little time learning to use Excel properly with the simple arithmetic they already know would prove far more useful than differentiation or integration.

The only imaginary numbers they should be interested in are their potential financial futures, not that -1 squared equals i.

Without it, young people may fall prey to predatory lenders, make poor investments, find themselves in debt without knowing how to get out of it and highly unlikely to retire on an acceptable level of income.

While the Rishi Sunak’s push for mathematics skills in schools may be coming from a genuine place, it is poorly delivered and quite frankly, not enough.

We can see that from his recent interviews on this topic, admitting the UK needs time to recruit more maths teachers, clarifying his maths plan would not involve forcing students to study the subject to A-level and suggesting the maths could focus on practical skills and personal finance.

Furthermore, this can’t be another game policy ping pong, like pensions.

Each successive government must embrace and prioritise personal finance education to ensure that young people are prepared for the financial challenges of adulthood.

It is a critical life skill that can have a significant impact on an individual's quality of life and it’s time to take action to make it a priority in schools.