Kevin Brennan MP never was much cop at darts – do the maths
HOW bright do you need to be to be an MP? In this masterclass, Kevin Brennan, Labour education spokesman and MP for Cardiff West, says three in 10 pupils achieved good GCSEs in 1997. As any fule knows that’s “60 per cent.” As he said:
”It was we who inherited a weak system on maths and English from the Tories. Only three in 10 pupils, that’s 60 per cent because I know the Secretary of State is not very good at maths, only three in 10 pupils got a good GCSE in 1997.”
All funny stuff. If an Oxford graduate and former economics teacher can’t do the sums, who can?
Well, in a word: dartists. Or, as TV darts commentator Sid Waddell was once inspired to put it, in a word: magic darts. Forget school Mathletics, competitive inter-school maths. That’s just sums, often standing still. Darts is sums on the move, most often performed in a pub atmosphere while working out the change from five pints, two Malibu and cokes, and three packets of smokey bacon crisps.
We call to mind the words of 11-times World Champion Phil “The Power” Taylor:
“Darts is fantastic for honing your maths skills. They should introduce darts calculations into the GCSE maths syllabus.”
They should. And then get darts into the Olympics. And snooker. And cribbage. The sooner the Olympics embraces teh so-called ‘pub sports’ , the better the state of the country will be.
Sound the bugle! Plug in the stereo! Word out the speed to distance ratio of the walk-on. Bring on the athletes:
Posted: 23rd, June 2012 | In: Key Posts, Politicians Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
