Sheffield Liberal Democrats welcome £1m grant for adult Maths education

Sheffield Liberal Democrats have approved and welcomed new funding of £1m for the Council to improve the maths skills of workers, disadvantaged adults, and parents in the city.

The grant is part of the Government’s Multiply initiative, which aims to raise awareness of the benefits of understanding numeracy and equip adults with the maths skills they need to progress in work and life.

According to Government statistics, 35% of working age adults in Sheffield have no level 3 (A Level or equivalent) qualifications at all, and 15.1% of those adults have no GCSE pass grades whatsoever. The charity National Numeracy ranks Sheffield in the 85th percentile nationwide on their Numeracy Index, which measures adults maths skills and confidence.

The approved funding will provide a range of projects tackling different parts of the skill challenge. A large portion will fund courses run in the workplace, teaching workers practical skills in timekeeping and problem solving through short term courses, working with union learning representatives.

Specialist courses will target workers with English as a second language, and people wishing to move into the hospitality, health & care, retail and construction industries.

One on one tutoring will also be made available through community organisations to teach numeracy for adults struggling with learning difficulties and disabilities.

Some classes will also be provided for parents and carers who struggle with maths, with the aim of empowering parents to develop their own skills and support their children with schoolwork.

All the local projects will be supported by a national website which will deliver online numeracy training. Overall, the programme will deliver a significant increase in the number of adults achieving Maths GCSE’s, and improve participant’s employment opportunities.

Lib Dem Councillor Martin Smith, chair of the Economic Development and Skills committee, said “It’s never been more crucial for people to develop new skills. It’s important for employers to be drawing on a skilled workforce, and it’s important for people without qualifications to have learning opportunities available after leaving school.

Maths skills are crucial to getting on in the workplace today - lacking a maths qualification can act as an enormous barrier keeping people in low paid work.

As Liberal Democrats, we’ve always campaigned for the importance of adult education to tackle inequality and encourage economic growth. I’m really glad that grant money has been made available for this project, and wish the organisations involved every success.”