Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to announce today that all pupils in England should study mathematics in some form until the age of 18. He hopes to equip students for future employment by counteracting low rates of numeracy in the UK.
Professor Mark Girolami, Chief Scientist at The Alan Turing Institute, said:
“Providing students with mathematical and data science skills throughout their education is key to improving data literacy in the UK. As the foundation of all scientific and technological disciplines, a good understanding of mathematics is important to improve and accelerate progress in the data sciences such as artificial intelligence and machine learning which play an increasingly central role in our daily lives and across almost every industry.
“The UK must also address the existing shortage of data scientists. As well as changing the education system, it's important that those already in the workforce have the opportunity to develop the necessary skills to understand data science and how to use it ethically and responsibly.”
