World Maths Day Wednesday, March 3, 2010 - 10:31

To celebrate World Maths Day on Wednesday 3 March 2010, Sue Southwood - NIACE Programme Director for Numeracy - explained the important role that Maths plays in our everyday lives and suggests some fun online activities.

Maths is not about what you used to do at school. It's about getting the right change in a shop, working out the interest on a loan, estimating the number of rolls of wallpaper you need to paper your grandchild's bedroom and working out what you need to win the darts match. All of us use maths in our everyday lives, all the time - as a nurse, call centre worker, postman, admin officer or fitness instructor.

Strong mathematical skills not only benefit individual adults, but they have a positive effect on families, the society and the economy. Recent government research illustrates the impact that adult numeracy can have on employment and earnings and suggests there is evidence that acquiring numeracy skills in adulthood brings earnings and employment benefits. And parents and educators need to challenge the view that "It's ok to be bad at maths" so that our children won't grow up with the worries many of us have about Maths.

Celebrate World Maths Day:

• looking at what's going on in schools;
• giving online Sudoku a go; 
• trying out some interactive numeracy materials; and
• take a practice numeracy test.