The minister for skills and vocational education, Ivan Lewis, has visited the World Professional Darts Championships at Lakeside to promote adult numeracy learning with the British Darts Organisation (BDO).
Seven million people describe themselves as regular darts players, but 14.9 million adults in England lack the numeracy skills expected of an 11-year-old.
Lewis was promoting the Government’s Get On campaign for adult skills which offers training courses in maths, reading and language. So far three-quarters of a million adults have gained a first national certificate in literacy and numeracy under the scheme.
The Get On campaign is part of the Skills for Life Strategy, which was launched by the Government in 2001.
Andy ‘The Viking’ Fordham, defending Lakeside World Professional darts champion, said: “Darts is the great leveller – there are fans from all walks of life who follow the game. But it does also reveal any problems that people might have with their sums.
“I would encourage any players out there who don’t feel very confident with maths in other contexts to find out more about the campaign, to build on what they can already do,” he said.
For more on the Get On campaign, go to: www.dfes.gov.uk
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