The shortage of qualified maths teachers in England and Wales is to worsten, according to a recent survey.
Professor John Howson, from Education Data Surveys, says that there is a north-south divide when it comes to number of trained maths teachers, with the south struggling the most.
The data was obtained by analysing the number of maths teaching vacancies compared to the number of newly qualified teachers with maths as a specialism.
Secondary schools across England and Wales have advertised 1,650 vacancies for maths teachers already this year, which equates to three quarters of the maths trainees likely to qualify in 2008.
The government has been working to address the shortfall of teachers in some shortage subjects by offering 'golden hellos' to welcome new entrants to the profession.
Professor Howson said: "Once again the government's failure to recruit enough trainee maths teachers means that some schools will be short of properly qualified maths teachers.
"Parents should ask what the government is doing about this issue.
"What is even more alarming is that recruitment to training courses for 2008 is falling behind the levels seen last year"
The government body responsible for teacher training, the Training and Development Agency (TDA), says that overall the number of people applying to teacher training courses is on target.
The organisation's chief executive Graham Holley said: "TDA figures from last year showed the number of trainee maths teachers had reached more than 2,300 for the first time.
"We are working hard to attract people with an interest in maths to the teaching profession, in what has become an increasingly competitive graduate labour market.
"We have a range of incentives to increase the supply of teachers offering maths, such as enhancement courses for existing teachers of other subjects to bring their maths skills up to date, returners courses, and higher bursaries (£9,000) and golden hellos (£5,000)."
Professor John Howson, from Education Data Surveys, says that there is a north-south divide when it comes to number of trained maths teachers, with the south struggling the most.
The data was obtained by analysing the number of maths teaching vacancies compared to the number of newly qualified teachers with maths as a specialism.
Secondary schools across England and Wales have advertised 1,650 vacancies for maths teachers already this year, which equates to three quarters of the maths trainees likely to qualify in 2008.
The government has been working to address the shortfall of teachers in some shortage subjects by offering 'golden hellos' to welcome new entrants to the profession.
Professor Howson said: "Once again the government's failure to recruit enough trainee maths teachers means that some schools will be short of properly qualified maths teachers.
"Parents should ask what the government is doing about this issue.
"What is even more alarming is that recruitment to training courses for 2008 is falling behind the levels seen last year"
The government body responsible for teacher training, the Training and Development Agency (TDA), says that overall the number of people applying to teacher training courses is on target.
The organisation's chief executive Graham Holley said: "TDA figures from last year showed the number of trainee maths teachers had reached more than 2,300 for the first time.
"We are working hard to attract people with an interest in maths to the teaching profession, in what has become an increasingly competitive graduate labour market.
"We have a range of incentives to increase the supply of teachers offering maths, such as enhancement courses for existing teachers of other subjects to bring their maths skills up to date, returners courses, and higher bursaries (£9,000) and golden hellos (£5,000)."
