In the age of AI, learning maths is even more vital | Letters

Readers react to Simon Jenkins’ article that said it’s more important for children to learn how to speak fluently than study mathematics Simon Jenkins must have had a deeply unpleasant experience of learning maths at school because he seems to have a pathological antipathy towards it (We are teaching children maths they will never use. Isn’t it better to help them speak fluently?, 16 October). I have no qualms with his insistence on the importance of oracy. But his argument breaks down with the claim that it is either oracy or maths, but not both. This is nonsense. Oracy and maths skills shoul