[BITList] Fwd: Pupils 'cannot count out change' due to poor mathsskills - Telegraph

[HUGH]

Mike,

Unless they are talking about utterly and abysmally poor arithmetic skills, 
I'm at a loss to see what they're getting at. When I was doing HNC Maths at 
the old Paisley Tech, our teacher, Dr Stutely, forbade us to offer 
arithmetic to him in the solution to any problem, under pain of death or 
worse. "I was never any good at arithmetic," he said, "So don't annoy me 
with it."  In mental arithmetic sessions at Chapelton Primary School (we 
learned all that stuff by age 10), my hand was always last to go up.  My 
brain said, "If 27 eggs cost ninepence three farthings, how much for 37 
eggs? You must be joking. Now bugger off."

Hugh.