The past 10 years, as every generation states, have taken a drastic turn with regard to the literacy and numeracy standards and rates.

It will be difficult to turn, or even stem, the tide of disservice children are receiving in their education as a result of the cumbersome amounts of paperwork teachers are expected to fill in these days.

Teachers’ Unions are up in arms, quite rightly, as the best mathematicians head elsewhere leaving those who are dedicated to education. They continue to teach somehow, whilst blasted with a tirade of boxes to tick which have nothing to do with the subject matter.

It is no wonder that teachers are asking for better pay. They have to put in a huge number of hours for lesson planning as well as completing the paperwork required by the machine that is certainly not capitalism at its finest, nor democracy either, I might add.

Even the best schools are struggling to find staff. This is a reflection of the expectations of teachers being far from on par with what is reasonably acceptable or practical. The end result is meant to be to provide students with a consistent, thorough education, which also ideally inspires and helps them foster a love of learning and hopefully a selection of subjects too.

Why subjects such as maths have been put on the back seat for so many years, and why teacher shortages in such important subjects are being seen, is in part due to negligence in the context of prioritising efficiency over processes that detract from ethical and effective teaching methods; most of which have been in place for hundreds of years.

Whilst diversity and offering equal opportunities for all are undoubtedly of paramount importance, when the pendulum has swung too far the other way and educational standards are in decline, not through the fault of teachers, something ought to change and a recalibration ought to occur.

What could this look like in practice?

There are several options, all of which involve changing the emphasis, and transferring it to what is actually in the curriculum.

Firstly, perhaps less emphasis on coursework and more on exams could be part of the solution, as regular exams can also assist increasing students’ productivity levels and decrease anxiety surrounding exams, the latter of which has become commonplace and could easily be reduced via frequent testing, even if in class – often the best way, being reintroduced.

The problem with not having regular tests is that it is very difficult for students themselves to learn to be accountable and study independently without the chance to check how they are progressing, as they do not have a benchmark to go by and to work to improve upon.

It also makes it difficult for teachers to gauge which students may require extra assistance too, for example. By spending time marking children and young adults’ actual work, in what ought to be a rather basic, traditional teaching model, without the requirement for extensive peripheral systems, teachers’ time would be free for them to do what they love: seeing students’ marks improve and enjoyment of learning increase!

Maths, music, and languages have been proven to be complementary subjects and we are also witnessing a decline in the arts as well as a decline in the encouragement of learning second languages. Yes, learning one’s native language is a priority, however, when learning a second language when at school, one’s first language automatically improves.

By requiring students to learn a second language consistently throughout the majority of their time at school, overall maths standards would in turn automatically improve.

‘Education is the kindling of a flame.’ – Socrates.