The extent of ‘math anxiety’ and parental concern with performance in mathematics was gauged in a recent survey conducted by CueMath on a randomized set of over 1000 parents across key metro cities.
According to The Pioneer, 89% of all the parents thought of mathematics to be the toughest subject. To as many as 81% of all parents, it was important to them that their child aced math in school. Parents also expressed distrust for teaching standards and methods, 77% of all parents believed that the subject was not taught well enough in school. 75% of all parents look for after-school classes for math for their children.
“The problem today is that Math is looked at as just a subject, not a life skill. Blackboard teaching and rote learning have created unnecessary hurdles for great math learning. Around 79% of the parents surveyed said that their child shows high interest in solving math-based activities like puzzles and Rubik’s cube, a clear indication that an engaging and intuitive way of learning will generate much more interest and curiosity from the child,” Manan Khurma, CEO & founder, Cuemath, said.
As was reported on TOI, the survey also shed light on what their parents thought of their children’s ability to do math, 82% parents believed their kids had a ‘natural flair’ for the subject. One also has to note that 61% parents assessed their child’s performance and understanding of the subject on the basis of the marks they scored.
The CEO of Cuemath, Manan Khurma said: “Math anxiety stems from a lack of development of strong fundamentals in the subject and can result in the child not just underperforming in school but also developing issues like low self-confidence in the long run. To overcome this, early-stage math-skills development is crucial.”
“The recent move by HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar to form a committee to tackle ‘math phobia’ is thoughtful and progressive and I hope it brings in the necessary change to help children overcome this less-spoken of yet powerful issue,” he added.
Cuemath is a sophisticated after-school maths program designed for students from kindergarten through class 8.