A study by the Institute of Grattan has found that Australia students not only have difficulties with mathematics, but many teachers lack confidence to teach it even at a level of year six.
The Institute has requested a series of government commitments, including a long -term domain objective of 90 percent arithmetic in Naplan tests, a clearer guide for schools on teaching methods and a more professional development for teachers.
Only 13 percent of Australia Year Four students stood out in a 2023 international mathematics test, compared to 22 % in England, 16 % in Ireland and 32 % in Japan.
At the level of year eight, only 11 percent of the Australians stood out.
Criticized ‘faddish’ teaching methods
Jordana Hunter, director of the Education Program at the Gratan Institute, said that Australia had depressed mathematics for decades.
“Governments have also been too slow to rule out Faddish mathematical teaching methods but not proven,” he said.
“To convert rhetoric into reality, governments must take the basis for evidence on how humans, including children, learn mathematics more effectively.”
The Institute’s survey found that some teachers lacked confidence to teach mathematics of year six, while many were concerned about the ability of their colleagues to teach matter.
Hunter said that a ’10 -year -old mathematical guarantee strategy would only cost around $ 67 per elementary student per year.
Joanna Barbousas, an expert in education at the University of La Trobe, said the study made it clear that action was needed to stop the “numbered crisis.”
“The impact of life for students who are delayed in these basic skills is substantial, which affects long -term employment, health and social results and disadvantage perpetuation cycles.
“Teachers tell us that they do not feel prepared for the classroom … When half of our 15 -year -olds do not achieve national standards in mathematics, it is not the students who are failing, it is our approach to education.”
For the latest SBS News, and .
