Pupils 'are urged to drop maths'

Pupils 'are urged to drop maths': "He went on: 'Increasingly, universities are having to mount remedial sessions for incoming science undergraduates because their maths skills are so limited, with many having stopped formal lessons in mathematics two years earlier at the GCSE level.'"

I do believe the same thing has been happening here judging by what has been in the papers about Maths and Science numbers and results. Some schools have actually dropped Maths and Physics in year 12. Can't blame students for choosing "cooler", more fun options when maths and science really make your head hurt and you're confronted with friends who have been preparing gourmet meals, running small businesses and other more tangible things. Kids have been brought up on TV and edutainment. Higher order thinking IS hard and you have to hurt your head to get up to that level of thinking and sustain it. But quite clearly there is the other factor too. Why get a 14 in Maths when you can get a much higher mark in an easier subject? They are easier because they make kids naturally enthusiastic and they require a more hands on approach. Not everyone is a pure and abstract thinker and not everyone needs to be...but the results get you a free trip to Government House and something to write home about. Prestige, dahlings. We need to take the one upmanship and points scoring out of it and realise that out technology based , multinational society needs science, maths and languages...and very good communication skills. Then whatever else you have to offer becomes part of your package. But if you can think up in the rarified intellectual atmosphere you really need to be encourges to. We need thinkers as well as prattlers!