‘Math proficiency of school students worrisome in city’

The results were worrisome. A total of 35% of Class 5 students failed (students who got more than 40% of questions wrong) in factors, multiples and divisibility tests which will directly affect their understanding of LCM and HCF, 40% of Class 6 students failed in decimals, fractions, and ratios which are key pre-requisites for Algebra, 60% of Class 7 students failed in mensuration and comparing quantities and more than 50% students, across all grades, found word problems to be difficult which indicates the importance of comprehension skills in primary years. Overall Chennai students performed about 15% better than their Delhi counterparts.

Speaking about the significance of the pilot study conducted by the Chennai-based HeyMath!, Co-Founder Nirmala Sankaran said, “Classes 5 to 6 and Classes 8 to 9 are very important transition years and, therefore, a strong arithmetic foundation is critical. Moreover, CBSE has made board exams mandatory for Class 10 and is considering extending testing to students of Classes 5 and 8 as well. ICSE has also announced a similar plan starting from the next academic year. Yet, the students are far from ready.”

“The fear and aversion to mathematics often begin when algebra is introduced and this almost always stems from a poor conceptual foundation in the primary years.” Teachers do not have the luxury of time nor do they have baseline data to address these deficiencies at the level of individual students. Before you know it, anxiety and frustration kick in, leading to parents enrolling students in tuition classes.