UK education minister to study Shanghai’s math teaching

(ECNS) -- Britain's education minister will lead a delegation of experts to visit Shanghai and observe the math teaching at local primary and middle schools, Xinhua News Agency said on Friday.

Elizabeth Truss and the mission will visit three schools in the city to see how Chinese children have become the world's best in maths.

They will study the methods with a view to possibly adopting them in schools in England.

Truss said a new primary school math curriculum featuring the multiplication table will be adopted in British schools.

A survey in 2012 showed that in the UK, 17 million adults -- nearly half the working population -- only had the math skills of a primary school child.