Basic Maths and English

[Cherry_Ripe]

Learndirect says that £823 million is lost each year due to inadequate basic skills - enough to pay the starting salaries of more than 40,000 new teachers.

The poll of 1,000 adults finds that:

One in five say they cannot convert local currency into pounds while on holiday; more than a third admit to adding up on their fingers when they have no calculator one in five do not know the difference between words that sound the same but have different meanings, such as "there" and "their"; two thirds rely completely on a spellchecker at work; 40% cannot calculate volume; and a third find converting fractions to decimals very difficult.

 I know a survey of 1000 people is not vast but I still found these results surprising.

I dont.  Most of the people I work with can't spell for toffee.  A few more are numerate but most are not. About 15% are semi-literate and struggle with basic maths.

[kevvosa]

I'll admit that I have a problem with basic maths. It just wasn't a subject that ever interested me at school, hence it never sunk in. I was more inerested in English so have better writing skills than Maths skills.

[Cherry_Ripe]

One of my colleagues (the same age as me) has an English degree but she freely admits she has no idea how to use an apostrophe!

[Forth Bridges]

that becasue English has moved away form ( in the 50's & 60's it was like this)

actually English - you where touct the foundation of English

now a days is move on the um OLDSPICE can you fill out the rest

[oldspice]

The Moser Report, completed in the 90s, found that over 7 million adults had problems with basic literacy and even more struggled with basic numeracy.  In Britain, a huge number of adults have literacy levels expected of an eight year old.

This government have spent a huge amount on the Basic Skills Strategy and results ARE improving but it is wrong to say the basics are not being taught in schools. They ARE being taught but people are not engaging with them and many people think that you can earn a living perfectly well without being able to spell or write properly. It is ingrained in the English culture and poor, slopping spelling, writing and grammar have been a faeture for decades.

There is no excuse for a person with a degree in English not to be able to use an apostrophe. It's like a doctor who can't give an injection.

[smurfboy]

I dont. Most of the people I work with can't spell for toffee. A few more are numerate but most are not. About 15% are semi-literate and struggle with basic maths.

I bet some of them even forget to put the apostrophe in 'don't'

[Cherry_Ripe]

 

[loulou]

I dont. Most of the people I work with can't spell for toffee. A few more are numerate but most are not. About 15% are semi-literate and struggle with basic maths.

Do you offer your workmates toffee to spell?

[ZOKORA]

that becasue English has moved away form ( in the 50's & 60's it was like this)

actually English - you where touct the foundation of English

now a days is move on the um OLDSPICE can you fill out the rest

Is this post a pisstake based on the joke that people have poor English ?

Yes, that's a post modern ironic post. 

Sorry 623.