Devotion Of Teacher X – Individual and national futures depend on math skills

Source: The post is based on the article “Devotion of Teacher X – Individual and national futures depend on math skills, which depend on good teacher training” published in The Times of India on 28^th September 2023.

Syllabus: GS 2 – Social Issues – Issues Related with Education

Relevance: concerns with math proficiency in India

News: India should be more worried about poor math skills than the United States because the ASER survey shows that the situation in India is grim.

What are the key highlights of the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)?

According to ASER survey, only about 20% of Class III students in both government and private schools can do subtraction, and this percentage has remained consistently low for the past decade.

This is because India has not been participating in the Pisa competition, which makes it difficult to compare math skills globally.

In contrast, the US has participated in Pisa and its students score lower than those in 36 other education systems, with China having the highest score.

What can be done to enhance math skills?

India needs to learn from other countries to improve its math skills. For instance, Vietnam’s high Pisa scores are attributed to a strong focus on teacher training, which India should also prioritize.

India, like the United States, have risk of falling behind in terms of individual and national prosperity due to a weak math education system.

This is because the ability to adapt to technological advancements and the AI-driven job market relies heavily on one’s math skills.

Therefore, the quality of math education in both the US and India depends on the competence of teachers, so it is important to address this issue and improve math education at all levels.