New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government wants to change the way Mathematics is taught in the lower classes in school through a redesigned curriculum and better teaching methods, in an attempt to increase love for the subject.
The government is keen on adopting a suggestion in the draft National Education Policy that has called for improving the Maths curriculum and classroom schedules for Classes 1-5, with a focus on foundational literacy and numeracy.
“The curriculum will be designed in a way that it develops a love for reading and Mathematics among students,” a senior Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry official said. “It will include workbooks, practicals and other things.”
The proposal suggests that for classes 1-5, students are provided with quality learning materials and workbooks on language and Mathematics, to ensure “grade-appropriate, creative and engaging practice opportunities for each child”.
The proposal also suggests that all Class 1 students undergo a three-month-long school preparation module in which they are to be trained before they enter the formal schooling system.
“As formal schooling begins after Class 1, it is important that students are prepared for it before they enter the system,” the senior official quoted above said.
According to other senior officials in the ministry, the move is part of the objective envisaged in the draft NEP, which is to ensure that “by 2025, every student in Grade 5 and beyond has achieved foundational literacy and numeracy”.
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Policy recognises severe learning crisis, teachers laud move
The Mathematics suggestion is being viewed seriously as the policy recognises the severe learning crisis with respect to the most basic skills, especially with regard to language and Mathematics in the early grades in school, and the persistence of the effects of this deficit in later years of schooling.
Numerous studies show that once students fall behind on foundational literacy and numeracy, they tend to maintain flat learning curves for years. The latest National Assessment Survey (NAS), for example, shows that students in Class 3 performed better than those in Class 5 and 8. In the NAS 2018, the Mathematics score nationally was 64 per cent in Class 3 but dropped by 10 percentage points to 54 per cent in Class 5 and then to 42 per cent in Class 8.
The proposed move has got a thumbs up from teachers.
Pankaj Rohilla, a Maths teacher at a Delhi government school, agreed that the methods of teaching need to change.
“Methods of teaching Maths need to be more activity-based rather than just rote learning. Especially in lower classes like 1 to 5, we cannot leave children to rote learning,” Rohilla said. “If a child is learning something, he/she should know the application as well.”
Another Maths teacher, Bhanushree Awasthi, agreed with Rohilla.
“The new NCERT books have improved from previous ones and they now contain practical part as well,” Awasthi said. “But it depends on the teacher on how the information given in books is imparted to kids. For lower classes, Maths definitely needs to be taught in a better way so that kids love the subject.”
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