I used to be a teacher long ago. And one of the things that pisses teachers in the UK off more than anything else when they're slogging their guts out every day (not that I was, you understand - I'm talking about GOOD teachers here)is the constant whine of the tabloid press that kids today can't add up, read or tie their shoelaces when they leave school.

It isn't true.

But here in France, it might be. I had an experience yesterday that left me lost for words.

I went into a shop to buy something for Isobel to eat. It cost ? 1.30. My pocket was full of tiny coins, so I handed over four 20 cent coins and a 50 cent coin. The subsequent conversation, translated from the Franglais, went like this:

Her: Excuse me (as I was leaving). It's ? 1.30.
Me: Yes, I gave you that, didn't I?
Her: (holding out coins which quite obviously add up to ? 1.30) No, you gave me this.
Me: ... (stumped)

Eventually the penny (as it were) dropped and I gave her a euro coin, she gave me back some of the small change and I left.

Is it just me, or is it not that hard to work out that 80 cents in 20s and a 50 cent coin add up to ? 1.30?

This isn't the first time something similar has happened to me here. Recently I was buying a ? 4.50 sandwich for my lunch and the girl behind the counter had to work out the change from a ? 5 note on a calculator.

I was no great shakes as a junior school teacher. But one thing I did make sure of that was, by the time they'd spent a year in my class, all my kids could do sums like that in their heads, and they all knew their times tables. Admittedly they may only have had a shaky grasp of the Tudors and Stewarts, but I know which skill I think is more important.