– Education Secretary Nicky Morgan announced her intention “to launch a war on innumeracy and illiteracy.” All the children in England will be expected to “master the basics” at the end of primary school. The students will have to be able to recite their 12 times table off by heart, to perform long divisions and complex multiplications, as well as to read a novel and to know correct punctuation, spelling and grammar.

– “Some will say this is an old-fashioned view, but I say that giving every child the chance to master the basics and succeed in life is a fundamental duty of any government,” declared Morgan. The target for England is to become, by 2020, the best ranked country in Europe for math and English, and among the top five countries in the world. In the latest PISA report, the UK was only ranked 26th for math and 23rd for reading.

Image: Education Secretary Nicky Morgan (BBC)

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