I would quite agree. There is absolutely no job for which one leaves school fully trained and qualified. That doesn’t mean EPOS checkout training should become mandatory for the under-16s, though.

There’s a lot of evidence that pupils today are being taught to pass exams. (I know I was, back in the day). That in itself is a skill, but it’s one of so many that should be taught, and not all of them can be taught in a vacuum. Skills like critical thinking are best learnt by applying them. And maths is one of the subjects in which one can do that. Plus, it can be interesting and useful in its own right too (however much Jenkins would like to disagree). Which can only be a good thing.