HYDERABAD: A recent survey by Cuemath, a beyond-school math learning programme, found that children in school tend to face the highest amount of pressure to perform well in math over any other subject. The survey found that 89% of the parents believe Math is the toughest subject for their kids yet 81% of them expressed that their child’s performance in Math is of the most importance to them. To add to this, 77% of the parents surveyed believe that Math is not taught well in schools and 75% of them also look at after-school classes as a must today.
“The problem today is that Math is looked at as just a subject, not a life skill. Blackboard teaching and rote learning have created unnecessary hurdles for great Math learning. 79% of the parents surveyed said that their child shows high interest in solving math-based activities like puzzles & Rubik’s cube, a clear indication that an engaging and intuitive way of learning will generate much more interest and curiosity from the child,” said Manan Khurma, CEO & Founder, Cuemath.
73% of the parents surveyed also believe their child’s aversion to mathematics has increased over time, a possible sign of the development of Math Anxiety in children.
“Math anxiety stems from a lack of development of strong fundamentals in the subject and can result in the child not just underperforming in school but also developing issues like low self-confidence in the long run. To overcome this, early-stage math-skills development is crucial,” said Manan Khurma.
“The recent move by HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar to form a committee to tackle ‘Math phobia’ is thoughtful and progressive and I hope it brings in the necessary change to help children overcome this less-spoken of yet powerful issue,” he added.
While 68% of the parents surveyed were not aware of the concept of ‘Math Anxiety’, 67% of them said they are willing to take corrective measures in case their child is suffering from this condition.
Some key-takeaways from Cuemath’s parent-survey
The pressure on Math
89% parents believe Math is the toughest subject for their kids, followed by 2nd language (5%) & Science (4%) [2% misc]
Despite this, 81% of parents expressed that their child’s performance in math is of the most importance to them, followed by Science (11%).
61% parents worry that their child will not be able to well on a math test
Math misconception
82% parents believe some children have a ‘natural flair’ for mathematics while it is more difficult for others
61% parents surveyed said they measure their child’s performance and understanding of math purely based on their score in school
Understanding Math Anxiety
63% of the parents believe their child gets tensed before a math test
65% parents said they found mathematics more challenging than other subjects while they were in school, yet 63% parents do not believe they have a role to play in their child’s dislike for the subject
68% of the parents surveyed have not heard about ‘math anxiety’ and hence, are not aware of whether their child is suffering from it or not.
67% of parents, however, do believe that any form of anxiety needs special attention from both schools and parents and are willing to take corrective measures that will help their child overcome this.
Survey Methodology: The survey was done on 1,000 parents across key metro cities.