Failing pupils may get extra help

Mr Brown will declare that education is his "personal passion" as he outlines a scheme called Every Child Counts, to help 300,000 pupils a year by 2010.

But Tories said the Chancellor's initiative amounted to an admission that Tony Blair's much-trumpeted "numeracy hour" had failed.

On the fifth day of his leadership campaign, Mr Brown will use a high-profile speech to the Confederation of British Industry to declare his intention to make UK maths standards comparable with the best in the world.

He will call for "a sharper focus on standards and getting the basics right - with every child able to read, write and add up before they leave primary school".

Hailing the successes of the Every Child A Reader programme, which targets one-on-one tuition at children falling behind in literacy, he will say a similar scheme should be used for mathematics.

The maths programme, involving 30-40 hours a year of intensive tuition for the children considered at greatest risk of leaving primary school innumerate, would cost around £600 per pupil.

Total extra cost will be £35 million a year, on top of the £150 million a year earmarked in the Budget for less intensive one-on-one help.

University students will be brought into classrooms to provide extra tuition and incentives will be given to maths teachers to work in primary schools.

At present, Britain is 10th in the world in standards of numeracy, with thousands of pupils leaving school unable to do their sums.