Thursday 29th September 2022: Maths Week 2022 was today launched by Minister for Education Norma Foley TD. Now in its 17th year, the all-island festival of maths and numeracy kicks off on Saturday 15th October and runs until Sunday 23rd October.

Maths Week is designed to promote a positive attitude towards maths and its applications. It is co-ordinated by Calmast, South East Technological University’s STEM Engagement centre and supported by the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Discover Programme, the Department of Education, and Business in the Community Northern Ireland.

Last year over 400,000 people, including 386,000 students, participated in Maths Week and this year promises to be as popular as ever with already over 142,000 pupils signed up to take part, along with more than 60 organisations including the universities, institutes of technology, libraries, schools, training colleges and employers.

Launching Maths Week 2022, Minister Foley said: “I am very pleased to see Maths Week go from strength to strength each year. It is an integral part of the school calendar, and I am delighted to continue the support from my Department to this important initiative.

“It is wonderful to see children growing in confidence and enjoying all the satisfaction and indeed fun that they derive from great maths teaching and learning. Maths is both an essential life skill, and a driver of the skills and innovation that we want our students to experience in their education. This is also a key element of a successful, vibrant, competitive, and growing economy. It helps us to learn and think creatively and critically. Maths Week brings numbers to life. It promotes a positive attitude towards maths in our learners that can contribute to their future success in and out of school.

“I look forward to seeing the many activities that take place during Maths Week 2022 and I encourage everyone to get involved. Seeing students, school communities, teachers, partners, and higher education institutions, north and south working together is fantastic and I wish this year's event every success.”

Director of Science for Society at SFI, Dr Ruth Freeman, said: “SFI is delighted to once again support Maths Week 2022. Maths features in so many aspects of life, and events like these are a great way to build your confidence and grow your understanding of working with numbers. I encourage everyone, young or old, to get involved and look forward to seeing the exciting activities taking place this year across the island.”

Eoin Gill, Maths Week Ireland Co-Ordinator, said, “As schools return to normality after two years of disruption due to Covid, it is more important than ever to motivate and inspire young people with maths. Mathematical thinking is part of everyday life, and we know that a positive attitude helps us succeed in a subject. The success of Maths Week in recent years has demonstrated the popularity of the subject and how maths can be enjoyed in so many different ways.”

After two years online, Maths Week will be returning to classrooms, museums, universities, theatres, libraries, and auditoriums all over the country from Carrickfergus to Carrigaline. Such was the success of the online events, ‘Maths Week Covid Editions,’ a number of online events are also programmed, to make the event as accessible as possible.

‘MathsWeekTV’ is scheduled to broadcast daily shows online for primary and secondary schools across the island. It will feature well known presenters such as UK TV presenter and maths teacher Bobby Seagull and children’s author and maths teacher Sally Lunt. Presenters from north and south will be joined by presenters from Britain, France, Spain, USA, Catalonia, and South Africa.

Cross-border participation is a very important element of the festival with schools from both sides of the border connecting with fun maths activities. Activities will not only be based in the classroom; the popular Puzzles in the Park will return to parks around the island.

A Maths at Work campaign will present role models from diverse backgrounds in a wide variety of careers, showing how they use maths in their jobs. A new initiative “I’m a mathematician get me out of here” will connect professionals with classrooms across the Island.  

The full programme and details of how to get involved are available on the Maths Week website www.mathsweek.ie.

For event and programme updates follow @MathsWeek on Facebook, @mathsireland on instagram, @mathsweek on TikTok and @mathsweek and #mathsweek2022 on Twitter.