AERIAL VIEW
Agreed, as the CM said, the teachers in every school, whether private or government, are simply uninterested in improving the pupils’ maths marks. Remember, Mathematics is the only subject where you can score cent per cent marks, yet Goans find it hard to crack them.
Amongst the causes of poor academic performance in Mathematics, one can say are – attitudes of the learners towards the subject, lack of teaching experiences, economic conditions, lack of appropriate teaching methods and low motivation of teachers and attitudes.
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant met officials and stated that ‘focused’ efforts are being undertaken to improve mathematics learning outcomes in students while expressing concern over the findings of the National Achievement Survey (NAS) that goa has fallen below the national average in some areas of education.
The Union Ministry of Education conducts the National Achievement Survey (NAS), a large-scale survey of students’ learning and provides a system-level reflection on the effectiveness of school education.
Goa CM Pramod Sawant took to Twitter to express his concern and stated, “We are concerned over the data of the National Achievement Survey Report as Goa falls below the national average in certain areas.”
“Focussed efforts will be made to improve the learning outcomes in Mathematics of students in Goa,” his tweet added.
Sawant went on to say that teachers should focus ‘full-time’ on teaching without having any side business that causes distraction.
So now, one needs to ask why Goan students are poor in maths.
Agreed, as the CM said, the teachers in every school, whether private or government, are simply uninterested in improving the pupils’ maths marks. Remember, Mathematics is the only subject where you can score cent per cent marks, yet Goans find it hard to crack them.
Amongst the causes of poor academic performance in Mathematics, one can say are – attitudes of the learners towards the subject, lack of teaching experiences, economic conditions, lack of appropriate teaching methods and low motivation of teachers and attitudes.
Attitude Towards Learning The Subject
Everything depends on one’s attitude towards the subject in question. The student mindset plays an important role. If a student thinks from the beginning that he will not be able to perform well in the subject, he will develop a phobia of Mathematics.
This, in turn, will affect his learning ability and performance. A positive attitude can bring about a lot of difference. It will act as a confidence booster.
Method of Teaching. Ideally, Mathematics should be taught in a way that is easy to comprehend.
The technique should be such that students can relate to it even after class. If the teaching method is proper, the students will be able to add, subtract, divide, and multiply without a calculator.
But, more often than not, mathematics teachers rely on methods that are difficult to grasp.
They might appear all right on pen and paper. But problems start to arise when its application comes to the world outside the classroom.
Self Doubt
Peer pressure is another reason why students fail in mathematics. They are unable to cope with the pressure to perform at school. This, along with a constant comparison with other good students, leads to the rise of self-doubt.
Once self-doubt sets in, it becomes difficult to recover. Eventually, the student’s ability to perform well in mathematics is hampered forever.
Short Attention Span
Some students get easily distracted. They cannot remain attentive throughout the math’s class.
Their attention wanders and they stop paying any interest. When asked to solve a problem in class they falter and become the center of jokes.
Parents should make sure that their child pays more attention in the classroom.
Both the teacher and parents can use different learning aids to make mathematics appear interesting.
Teacher Student Ratio
Generally, a classroom has 35-40 students with a single teacher teaching the subject. This results in a poor teacher-student ratio.
In his desire to teach the topic, the teacher fails to pay attention to every student. They only have a vague idea of which student is good and which is below average.
After class tests, the teacher gets a clear idea of his students’ abilities.
Teachers are not well versed In the Subject
This might appear as a bit of out of the box reason, but it cannot be ignored completely.
Many teachers do not have an in-depth knowledge of the subject.
All the problems mentioned above can be solved if they are detected correctly. Parents and teachers must make a joint effort to improve student performance.
This will help them deal with anxiety, peer pressure, and self-doubt. The student in question will be able to improve his performance gradually.
Parents can appoint tutors who will be able to give personalized attention. Proper guidance and regular practice will turn the tide in favour of the student.