People have different opinions on whether schools should devote more of the timetable to mathematics and numeracy or to developing pupils’ speaking and writing skills. Although both have some value, I believe that maths lessons are more crucial because number skills are increasingly needed in the modern job market.
One main reason to focus on maths is that many modern jobs require strong number skills. Sectors such as data science and information technology are growing rapidly, and employers increasingly prefer to hire staff who can work with statistics. For instance, even people who work in marketing now need to understand sales figures and online data. Moreover, maths is difficult to learn later in life. If children do not build a strong foundation at primary school, they often struggle at university. As a result, extra maths lessons give pupils better job opportunities in the future.
On the other hand, some people argue that communication skills are more important. Many professions depend on them: teachers, lawyers and journalists, for example, must explain ideas clearly and defend their arguments without hesitation. Moreover, almost every employee needs to speak and write well in order to work in a team or present a project to clients. Without these skills, even an excellent specialist may fail to share his or her ideas. However, pupils practise communication in many subjects, such as history and literature, whereas maths is only taught in maths lessons. Therefore, extra time on the timetable is more useful for maths.
In conclusion, although communication skills play a major role in our lives, I believe that maths deserves more time at school, because number skills are becoming essential in the modern world. Schools should still teach communication, but their main focus should be numeracy.