Middle school math question stumps politicians during debate

Pears cost $4 a kilogram.

Ben buys 4.15kg of pears.

How much does Ben pay for the pears?

Take a minute …

Have the answer? Don’t worry – all will be revealed at the end of the article.

The question above was presented to New South Wales Education Minister Sarah Mitchell and her opponent vying for her portfolio in the upcoming New South Wales State Election, Labor’s Prue Car.

2GB’s Ben Fordham gave the 7th Grade test math question to the pair live on air after a heated pre-election debate between the two.

“Who wants to wrap up this debate with a little game?” Fordham proposed menacingly, to which they both sheepishly accepted.

The pair were given about a minute to solve the question.

Ms. Car incorrectly answered $4.15, while Ms. Mitchell took her time and got it right.

“Can I just say English was my strong point,” Ms. Car said.

“So was it mine, Prue,” Ms. Mitchell responded.

While the incumbent education Minister and her challenger were worrying about pears, schools across the nation were sweating bullets as the results of the 2022 NAPLAN tests were released, revealing that migrant students outperformed their peers.

Regarding ninth-grade reading, students with a language other than English (LOTE) background outshone their English-speaking peers, with 7.3 percent achieving a top band result compared to a mere 4.6 percent.

And it wasn’t just reading where LOTE students excelled. In ninth grade numeracy, a whopping 11.2 percent of LOTE students aced the top band result, with just 4 percent of their peers doing the same.

And if you’ve made it this far without working it out – Ben’s paying $16.60 for those pears.