The Schools Standards Minister, Stephen Byers, said the initiative would give primary school pupils the chance of a better start to their secondary school education. It will cost £500,000.

Mr Byers said, "Children need to feel confident in using numbers, whether it is to calculate how far their pocket money will stretch or, in later life, coping with shopping, mortgages or pensions."

Stephen Byers: "Being able to deal with basic mental calculations is essential"

"England trails behind many of our international competitors in numeracy.

"The government has set ambitious targets for turning this situation around."

Children attending the summer numeracy schools will receive 50 hours of extra tuition and parents will be expected to take an active part in supporting their children.

Mr Byers said: "Parents in particular are a key influence in helping youngsters see the value of numeracy.

"Often parents themselves lack confidence in mathematics, so both parents and children will benefit from the summer schools."

The new initiative follows the pilot summer literacy school project last year, which is being expanded more than ten-fold to cater for 18,000 children at a cost of £6m this summer.

Mr Byers said: "The summer school approach works. Evaluation of last year's literacy pilots showed they had been very successful at improving pupils' attitudes to, and confidence in, reading, and that links between primary and secondary schools had improved, as had parental involvement.

"These are essential factors that apply to raising standards in numeracy as much as in literacy."

Targets outlined in the School Standards and Framework Bill, currently before Parliament, foresee 75% of 11-year-olds reaching the expected standard in numeracy for their age by 2002. In 1997, 62% of 11-year-olds reached this level.