Maths Week Ireland comes to Northern Ireland later this month with the challenge of making maths and its related careers fun.
The event, from October 13 to 21, will give thousands of primary and secondary school pupils a chance to enjoy maths games, teasers, challenges and magic shows.
Event partners include the University of Ulster, Queen’s University Belfast, Stranmillis University College, W5 and Armagh Planetarium who are hosting events. The week finishes with Maths in the City when Belfast city centre will buzz with national and internationally renowned mathematicians entertaining the public with mazes, maths magic, puzzles and card tricks.
“What use is maths to me?…. it’s a frequent question parents face when children are tackling their maths homework,” admitted Eoin Gill, Maths Week Ireland coordinator.
“If this is something you’re struggling with as a parent, we have a very simple message for you this week. Everyone can do well at maths with a little effort. And this is effort that will pay off.
“Every job requires some degree of maths skills. But to open up a world of opportunities for your child in careers which we know are sustainable, maths is the foundation they need.
“There are lots of examples of people your children will know of who have done well at maths and gone on to have great careers. From Professor Brian Cox to the comedian Dara O’Briain who studied maths and physics at UCD.
“Many companies, including Google, Intel and Facebook who are hungry for people with maths skills. This demand is only going to increase as we find our way out of our current economic crisis and move towards a strong, knowledge-based economy.
“Encouraging your child to enjoy and practice their maths will also help them develop good problem-solving skills which will be very helpful to them no matter what they end up doing in life.
“Encouraging and helping your child to do well at maths really will help them in the long-run. If you understand this and are positive about their maths abilities, then they will value it as a subject worth making an effort in.”
To find out more about Maths Week Ireland 2012 log on to www.mathsweek.ie, follow on Twitter @mathsweek / Facebook facebook.com/MathsWeekIreland.