8 x 9: The simple sum that minister for times tables refuses to answer!
he expects the country’s eightyear-olds to be able to recite their times tables on command.
But schools Minister Nick Gibb was unwilling to do so himself yesterday.
he appeared on TV to explain why every child in Year 4 will be tested on their times tables up to 12 x 12 by the summer of 2020.
But when Good Morning Britain presenter Jeremy Kyle asked him to answer eight times nine, Mr Gibb refused.
he might well have known that 8 x 9 = 72 but he explained: ‘I’m not going to get into this.
‘I’ve learnt through bitter experience never to answer these kinds of questions on live television. I’m very tempted to, but I’m not going to.’
Co-host Kate Garraway told Mr Gibb he was a ‘very successful per- son who clearly can add up and do maths’, before asking: ‘Why is it so important for an eight-year-old to do it when clearly you feel vulnerable about it, and there you are, a government minister?’
The minister responded: ‘No eightyearold or nine-year- old will be doing it on live television.’
shortly afterwards he was given a similar challenge by Nick Ferrari on LBC radio, who asked him: ‘What’s nine nines?’ Mr Gibb replied: ‘I’ve been strongly advised not to engage in these. If I get one wrong that will be the story, and I want the story to be what we are doing to improve standards in our primary schools.’
Mr Ferrari joked: ‘I know you can do it, minister.’
suggesting he was fully aware the answer is 81, Mr Gibb said: ‘I know I can do it too but I’m not going to break this decision.’ he was giving interviews to talk about the Government’s new times table check for eight and nine-yearolds, being trialled this spring. around 7,250 pupils at 290 primary schools in england are expected to take part in the trials. The test will last a maximum of five minutes and allow teachers to monitor a child’s progress.
It will not count towards government performance tables, although the data will be available to councils and regional schools commissioners.
The Government wants the ‘vast majority’ of children to have mastered all their times tables by the age of nine, allowing them to progress to long multiplication and other complex problems.
experts have warned that too many children have been failing to master the basics at a young age, meaning they fall behind at secondary school.
Mr Gibb said the tests would help end the scandal of standards in the UK ‘falling behind other countries’.
he hoped it would also put an end to the fashion among some adults for boasting about being ‘bad at maths’. he said: ‘In other countries around the world it is taken for granted that young people will learn their tables as early as possible in their primary school career. They need to be properly equipped for mathematics at secondary school.’
Mr Gibb was criticised online by viewers who thought he should have attempted to answer Mr Kyle’s question.
Nuala Burgess said: ‘Nick Gibb can’t tell us the answer to 8 x 9 – says he’s under pressure on telly. But seems OK for kids to be under pressure to meet his party’s ridiculous performance assessments.’
Shray Parekh said: ‘he was doing semi-OK until he refused to answer the simple questions that he’s asking eight-yearolds to memorise and be tested on.
‘The pressure of doing that on live TV is equivalent to the pressure eight-yearolds would feel in class.’
Other politicians who have avoided answering maths questions live on air include former education secretary Nicky Morgan and ex-PM David Cameron.
‘I’ve learnt through bitter experience’
IT made cannonballs for Waterloo and built Spitfires for the Battle of Britain. Yet now the country’s oldest engineering firm – vital to our defence for 260 years, and still at the cutting edge of technology – risks falling prey to a hostile takeover bid from getrich-quick spivs intent on breaking it up.
Indeed, it is unthinkable that on the eve of Brexit, with our fortunes depending increasingly on such world- beating innovators, the Government should allow GKN to fall into the hands of city slickers.
To her credit, Theresa May has pledged to scrutinise the Melrose offer and act in the ‘national interest’. She must be as good as her word – and block the bid.
FOR decades, the education ‘blob’ has resisted demands that primary pupils should learn their times tables, saying it’s too ‘stressful’. Thus, countless children have been deprived of an essential life skill, while Britain has slipped relentlessly down the league tables. Now school standards minister Nick Gibb has become the latest to champion the traditional teaching method, insisting on testing all nine-yearolds to ensure they know their tables up to 12 by heart. The Mail wishes him well. If he succeeds, our children may even attain the standards taken for granted in the 1950s.