Chennai: All is not well with respect to the Maths proficiency of students in schools of the State as a recent survey has found it to be worrisome.

HeyMath!, a global education technology academy of mathematics, recently conducted a pilot study to evaluate the basic arithmetic and mathematical skills of students across the country.

The survey was carried out on over 5,000 students from grades five to nine in 30 CBSE schools across Delhi, Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Bengaluru, and Vellore.

At the end of this survey, it was found that 35 per cent of grade five students failed in factors and multiples and divisibility tests which will directly affect their understanding of LCM and HCF.

Similarly, 40 per cent of grade six students failed in decimals, fractions, and ratios which are key pre-requisites for Algebra. While 60 per cent of grade seven students failed in mensuration and comparing quantities and more than 50 per cent students, across all grades, found word problems to be difficult which indicates the importance of comprehension skills in primary years.

With the minimum requirement, failed students are those who got more than 40 per cent of questions wrong. Overall, Chennai students performed about 15 per cent higher and better than their Delhi counterparts.

Speaking about the significance of the pilot study conducted, HeyMath co-founder Nirmala Sankaran said, “Grade five to six and grade eight to nine are very important transitions years and a strong arithmetic foundation is critical. Moreover, CBSE has made board exams mandatory for grade 10 and is considering extending testing to students of grades five and eight as well. ICSE has also announced a similar plan starting from the next academic year. Yet, the students are far from ready.”

According to Nirmala, the fear and aversion to maths often begins when algebra is introduced and this almost always stems from a poor conceptual foundation in the primary years. Teachers do not have the luxury of time nor do they have baseline data to address these deficiencies at the level of individual students.

“Before you know it, anxiety and frustration kicks in leading to parents enrolling students in tuition classes,” she added.

Effects and remedy

Nirmala said With this pilot study, the aim was to understand the learning gaps at a granular level and recommend customised learning paths for every student using our proven content, and teaching methodology.

“We started by evaluating where a student stands in a particular topic through bite-sized diagnostic tests. Based on their performance, students went through a personalised learning program (PLP) comprising recommended lessons and targeted practice,” she said.

At the end of eight weeks, they have found a 30 per cent improvement on average among all students, with more than 90 per cent students finding the programme effective, easy to use and motivating, she added.