The man with a passion for promoting maths
IT might not be the most fashionable cause in the world, but Mathematics in Education and Industry (MEI) is a charity with a proven track record.
When Charlie Stripp, its chief executive, quit his teaching job in 2000 to join the charity, the death-knell had already been sounded for A-Level further maths. In 2003 just 5039 English students took the qualification.
Even the best universities were forced to drop the A-Level from their degree entry requirements – there simply weren’t enough state schools giving students the chance to take it.
Cut forward to 2010, and 11,312 students took the qualification in England – twice as many as in 2005.
Much of that increase is down to the Further Maths Support Programme, the initiative that MEI developed, starting as a small pilot with the help of a grant from the Gatsby Foundation and latterly as a national scheme funded through the Department for Education.
Stripp and his colleagues have helped to boost the number of further maths candidates by training existing teachers and, where necessary, arranging for specialists to give tutorials to students, either in school, at local universities, or online.
The charity aims to help students become independent learners rather than being “spoon fed”. At the heart is the belief that mathematicians are essential for Britain to succeed in finance, engineering and science.
But for Stripp, it is as much about improving the lives of disadvantaged students. “The potential of these students must be realised,” he says.
“Some of them come from a less advantaged home culture, but if they’re talented in maths they can transcend their background.”
Partly as a result of the efforts of Stripp and his colleagues, the best universities have started to again demand a further maths A-Level from prospective candidates.
However, just one out of seven A-Level maths students also sits the harder exam – still far too low. Stripp estimates that around a quarter of A-Level maths students should take it.
“With extra resources to enable them to train more teachers to teach at this level, and support more schools and colleges to improve their mathematics provision, MEI and the FMSP could do even more to expand opportunities for young people to learn the mathematical skills needed to support our economy.”
That’s why we’re calling on the City to make a difference, by donating generously to the Further Maths Support Programme.