KOCHI: Calculating ‘X’ can be a headache even for grown-ups. Add ‘Y’, and things get trickier. For Keralam’s schoolchildren, the trouble begins when mathematics moves beyond addition and subtraction — into fractions, algebra and abstract reasoning.
The numbers bear this out. In Grade 6, only 39% of students in the state could represent and compare fractions such as a half or a quarter, according to a NITI Aayog policy report titled ‘School Education System in India: Temporal Analysis and Policy Roadmap for Quality Enhancement’.
By Grade 9, only 36% could use fractions and decimals in everyday situations. The cohort of students that could apply percentages to solve problems stood at 31%, with just 35% able to construct a logical proof or convincing argument.
Yet, children in the state start with a clear advantage. The PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 (Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development) shows Keralam’s Grade 3 students scoring 70% in mathematics, against the national average of 60%. In Grade 6, they still lead, 60% to 46%. By Grade 9, the state’s score slips to 45%. That is striking because Keralam does well in several other subjects. Mathematics seems to pose a different challenge, one that becomes more demanding as students climb the school system.
“Students do not suddenly lose the ability to think mathematically as they move up classes. The way mathematics is taught needs to be examined,” says Dr Sheron K P R, assistant professor at Chinmaya Vishwa Vidyapeeth, who has researched how algebraic concepts are taught in the state’s middle schools.
Children develop mathematical thinking naturally, he says, when maths is tied to things they can see, touch and reason about. The trouble starts when classroom mathematics drifts away from everyday experience.
‘Gaps in learning maths widen as students move up the grades’
“Put red lucky seeds (manjadi) in one cup and gooseberries in another, using identical cups, and a child can quickly tell which holds more. That child is already comparing quantities and reasoning mathematically. The challenge is carrying that instinct into formal maths,” he says. The NITI Aayog report says learning maths in India has improved but remains weak, and the gaps widen as students move up the grades.
“Research in mathematics education points to a familiar culprit: abstract ideas are often disconnected from children’s everyday experiences and cultural knowledge, and maths becomes an exercise in remembering procedures, rather than thinking,” Sheron points out.
“This is where teaching method comes into focus. Soviet psychologist Vasily Davydov challenged the notion that children must master basic arithmetic before meeting abstract ideas. His work showed that young children can engage with abstract concepts when introduced using suitable methods. China, Singapore and South Korea have brought algebraic ideas into elementary classrooms, questioning the assumption that abstraction must wait until middle school,” he adds. Sheron says the plight of mathematics education in India over the past few decades has been concerning, especially when placed against its rich and indigenous mathematics knowledge traditions built on cognitive skills, memory, visualisation, speed, and accuracy.
“The phenomenon of “classroom maths” arises when teachers are clueless about the course of acting and when the curriculum do not grant the freedom to step away from conventional methods. Students continue to study for the sake of scores alone. Mathematics becomes a test of memory where those with a desirable memory pass tests while others fail,” he stresses. Maths, as Sheron puts it, should become as natural as language. When the teaching works, it need not feel like a burden.