MR Thomas L Inglis expresses his disbelief at the proposed banning of the use of calculators in Standard Grade maths exams (May 6).
Twenty-five years ago when I was a young maths teacher our department fought a losing battle to keep calculators out of the classroom. The Exam Board introduced their use in part of the then O-grade arithmetic exam and we admitted defeat.
In the years that followed I noticed two things. The more able pupils did no better, becoming lazy in the use of mental arithmetic and so their skills deteriorated. The less able pupils did no better because of their inability to recognise the preposterous answers they produced and their skills also deteriorated.
Calculators are a great aid in all walks of life but we need to learn the basic skills first.
Maureen M Semple,
63 Corrour Road,
Glasgow.
May 7.
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