However he proposed a new idea that caused him to lose favour with the British youth, not that they were particularly partial towards him initially. The idea of making mathematics compulsory right up to Advanced-level education, or A-Levels, can be likened to forcing an adult to pursue a career of the government’s choosing.
When thinking about how different and complex each and every member of our society is, as well as all the different occupations and vocations we have, why must we be pigeonholed into studying mathematics when the vast majority of us may have other interests we find more stimulating?
We must understand that there are reasons why alternative paths exist beyond GCSE just as there are reasons why select subjects are compulsory at GCSE level, so to see this undermined is quite disappointing. I have always been quite proud of how thorough the curriculum is in terms of the range of content/modules whilst also affording choice to young people the older they get, as they transition through KS3, then GCSE and later A-Level.
As someone currently in her final year of A-levels who studies three humanity-based subjects, and who thrives when writing essays as opposed to calculations – I believe that although we are young, some of us (including myself) being barely adults, at this stage of our lives school is all we’ve known. Going through the schooling system for well over a decade we’ve more than earned the right to decide which subjects and by extension, career paths we’d like to pursue.
Whether the government means to follow Sunak and make maths A-Level compulsory, or chooses to implement maths into our curriculum through mandatory courses or T-Levels, it all carries the same level of invasiveness and shouldn’t go ahead.
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