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Banishing them from KS2 tests 'risks turning pupils off maths'.
The announcement from the government last week that it intends to ban calculators from primary school maths tests may have pleased traditionalists. But the plan, due to be implemented in 2014, has been met with bemusement by experts.
Elizabeth Truss, installed as an education minister in the September reshuffle, said she wanted calculators to be banished from exams taken by 11-year-olds because they bred a reliance on technology to complete basic sums. Instead children will have to rely on a pen, paper and mental arithmetic.
The move has been challenged by National Numeracy, the organisation established to promote maths to the public. Chief executive Mike Ellicock believes pupils should master the basics before using calculators, but said that is already the case in most primary schools. Banning calculators risked turning children off maths, he added.
"Some of the underachievement in maths has to be down to attitudes associated with the perceived lack of relevance," said Mr Ellicock. "So why remove the bit of the key stage...