At the introduction of his main initiative, launched in January, the prime minister admitted.
To ensure that all English students study math without making it mandatory, a new review will be initiated.
It comes a week before teachers strike again on 27 April and 2 May in the continuing salary and working conditions conflict with the administration.
Mathematicians, educators, and businesspeople will advise the government.
The education industry has supported Mr. Sunak’s decision, but opponents say more professional instructors and funds are needed to implement the idea.
Mr. Sunak said that STEM graduates receive tax-free subsidies for teacher training, but “We need already, and we will need more maths teachers.”
Mr. Sunak said the “cultural sense that it’s okay to be bad at maths” puts youngsters “at a disadvantage” by not giving them employment skills.
Change this anti-maths attitude. Mr. Sunak informed business executives, students, and instructors that numeracy is as important as reading.
“I won’t let this cultural sense that it’s okay to be bad at maths disadvantage our children.”
“My maths campaign is not a nice-to-have. It’s about revaluing math in America.”
“We simply cannot allow poor numeracy to cost our economy tens of billions a year or leave people twice as likely to be unemployed as those with competent numeracy,” he said.
“We must fundamentally change our education system to give our young people and businesses the knowledge and skills they need to compete with the best in the world.”
A six-year-old government evaluation of post-16 mathematics made several suggestions that have not been implemented.
Sir Adrian Smith, the review’s author, was urged to consider encouraging children to study math until 18 but declined owing to worries about education system resources.
The UK is one of the few OECD countries that does not require kids to study arithmetic till 18.
According to Downing Street, a third of youngsters fail GCSE maths, and over eight million people have numeracy abilities below those of a nine-year-old.
Mr. Sunak told Sky News’ Beth Rigby, “We’re doing both.”
He said the government was starting at elementary schools with mathematical centres to share best practices and improve curriculum.
We’ve progressed. “We’ve gained 10 points in international rankings,” he remarked. We must do more.
He disagreed that past administrations had “dropped the ball” on mathematical standards, stating, “Our track record on this stuff is great.”
He conceded that the adjustments wouldn’t happen “overnight” and that the government will reveal its “maths to 18” strategy after July.
“Once again, the prime minister needs to show his working: he cannot deliver this reheated, empty pledge without more maths teachers,” Labour’s shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said before Mr. Sunak’s address.
“But after 13 years of failing our students, the Tory administration routinely fails its target for new maths teachers, with mathematical attainment disparities rising and teachers quitting in droves.
Labour does not need a new advisory group to make good decisions for our kids. By abolishing private school tax benefits and hiring thousands more teachers, particularly math instructors, we will raise standards nationwide.”