Should rote-learning of times tables return?

I’M PLEASED to see Education Ministers, advised by civil servants, trying to ensure that children learn the times tables by the age of 11. Born in 1926, attending school was compulsory for me from the next school term after I turned five. The education committee in midLancashire had a syllabus which set down in detail what the headmasters of all its schools must have their teachers working on each term. Copies of the timetable were posted on the notice boards and each child was given a copy. Printed copies were sent to the education committee, the school inspectors and schools governors, so they could check progress when they visited (always without prior notice). It was impressed on us pupils from the outset that to be a scholar was a recent privilege: in our grandparents’ days, only a privileged few had enjoyed the advantages of education. We were in school to learn and wouldn’t be allowed to prevent others from learning. My infant school headmaster had been a chaplain in the 1914-18 war. He viewed corporal punishment as counterproductive and said giving pupils ‘lines’ would make them dislike learning. His punishments were to make us walk or run five times around the playing field. Back then, for all six-year-olds, memorising multiplication tables was an introduction to learning by rote, repetition to help in remembering very useful information. BRIAN THOMPSON, Westward Ho! Devon. SECRETARY of State for Education Nicky Morgan states that maths is ‘non-negotiable’ — who would disagree? But will learning the 12 times table improve the understanding of maths in an age of decimalisation? Will reciting the 12 times table bring benefits to pupils? Multiples of one to ten are the essential building blocks of numeracy, and any desired number can be achieved using the digits 0 to 9. Though we still have imperial measures, our engineers use the metric system which, with a few exceptions, is globally applied. It’s almost 45 years since old currency and 12 pennies to the shilling were used, perhaps a good example of an application of the 12 times table. Could it be that it is the intention of central Government to return to the Imperial system of feet and inches and restore pounds, shillings and pence to our pockets and purses if the nation returns a No vote to Europe in the referendum? Or is there an intention to revalue our currency to include a 60p coin and 120p to the £1? Hopefully the Secretary for Education is aware that there are higher priorities for education than the 12 times table — or is she?

PAUL KEY, Arnold, Notts.