Trouble-sum! Guj students struggle with basic maths
2
Ahmedabad: In a state where the ability to calculate profits, negotiate margins, and bargain to the last rupee is second nature, one would expect its classrooms to brim with mathematical confidence.
Yet, the latest Parakh assessment report paints a sobering picture: Gujarat's students— whether studying in government or private schools, state or central board, in cities or villages— are stumbling over the basics. Tested on everything from ordering numbers in sequence to applying formulae in algebra, they consistently fell short of national benchmarks. Experts warn that this is not just about poor test scores, but a sign of a widening learning gap that could affect the state's future workforce.
Parakh (performance assessment, review and analysis of knowledge for holistic development) is an initiative of the Union ministry of education executed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
The 2024 assessment tested over 1 lakh students from Classes 3, 6, and 9 in 3,536 schools. Right from arranging numbers in ascending and descending order for Class 3 to calculating area of a given shape for Class 9, the share of students who could complete it successfully was lower than national average, according to Parakh data.
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Across the board in Gujarat, whether it was central govt schools or state govt schools, govt-aided schools or private schools, scores fell short. In Class 3, 54% of students nationwide could recognise multiplication as repeated addition and division as equal sharing, but only 48% in Gujarat could do so. Similarly, while 61% across India could convert minutes and hours into days, just 52% of Gujarat's students managed it.The gap persisted at higher levels.
In Class 9, 32% could carry out basic operations involving variables, coefficients, and constants, compared to the national 38%. For applying formulae to measure area, Gujarat's figure was 33%, against India's 39%. What's interesting is that the subject proved to be a great leveller across gender, social class and type of school. Irrespective of the categories, students from Gujarat were unable to match the national average.
In Class 3, only 44% of Gujarat students could solve basic problems on quantities, shapes, space and measurements, compared to 65% in Kerala, 62% in Rajasthan, and 60% in Maharashtra. The national average stood at 55%.
While some educators questioned the survey methodology, most agree that the findings highlight a serious learning gap. "One of the primary issues with our pedagogy is that mathematics is taught by rote," said Udayan Prajapati, head of the mathematics department at St Xavier's College and trustee of the Gujarat Mathematics Society.
"Gujarat is following the Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) syllabus now, which does not seem to be working for the students.
In the context of Gujarat, earlier textbooks were more approachable for the students."
Experts recommend rekindling interest through puzzles, games like Sudoku, and practical applications. Prajapati said that students are increasingly opting for basic maths instead of the standard level in Class 10.
Standard maths has a more challenging question paper, with more complex problems and case studies, while basic maths focuses on fundamental concepts and has a simpler question paper.
For Kalpesh Akhani, principal of a govt school in Vadnagar and a maths teacher for nearly 30 years, the erosion of fundamentals is alarming. "Students have forgotten multiplication tables up to 20×10," he said. "Recitation of tables was a ritual in many schools. It created a foundation block for complex calculations. If a child fails to build this foundation before Class 6, it becomes much harder to catch up. Where will our engineers and STEM researchers come from?"
This academic weakness has knock-on effects, said Bhavesh Pathak, a senior teacher who has created several innovative methods to teach the subject. "Engineering seats keep increasing, but takers are too few. If science teachers lack a mathsdegree, they are not fully equipped to teach it," he said. Pathak added that the subject must be demystified: "We should not treat it as a difficult subject. We fail to connect students with its practical uses.
Once they see its real-world value, they start to enjoy it."
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