MATHEMATICS EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN

THE MUSLIM, 12th January 1990

As also in every other subject, educators in mathematics are faced with significant demographic changes and rising expectations in preparing the kind of work force our country will need in the future. The world of work now is now less manual but more mental; less routine but more verbal; and less static but more varied.

Now working smarter is more important than just working harder. We need workers who match this requirement - workers who absorb new ideas, adept to changes, cope with ambiguity, perceive patterns and solve unconventional problems.

The foundation of science and technology is mathematics. Mathematical literacy forms the basis of technological expertise in the workplace. In tomorrow's world, the best opportunities for jobs and advancement will go to those able to cope confidently and competently with mathematical, scientific and technological issues.

What is needed is a bold and realistic approach to reform mathematics education at all levels. Means must be found for significantly improving student achievement while simultaneously making changes in mathematics education in response to the demands of an increasingly mathematical society.

Our population growth rate is higher than our literacy growth rate. This means that, with the passage of time, we are producing more illiterates than literates. Even if we consider only those who can afford to seek education, too many of them leave schools without having acquired the necessary mathematical power. Thus the shortage of qualified mathematics teachers in the country is serious - more serious than any other area of education.  This is the case at all levels, from elementary schools to universities. If we compare our students with the students of other nations, Pakistani students lag far behind in their level of mathematical accomplishment.

  

Mathematics Test Results of Students from Various Countries

(Percent correct answers)

Pakistan                                                                                   15.56

USA                                                                                        25.30

Switzerland                                                                             31.80

France                                                                                     33.20

Canada                                                                                    35.80

UK                                                                                          37.80

Australia                                                                                  37.70

Sweden                                                                                   37.70

Japan                                                                                       50.20

Curriculum and instruction in our educational institutions are usually behind the times. The reflect neither the increased demand for higher-order thinking skills, nor the greatly expanded uses of the mathematical sciences, nor what we now know about the best ways for students to learn mathematics.

Generally, it is believed that mathematics is a dry and difficult subject having no practical or aesthetic value, unlike the social science subjects. It is believed that mathematics is intellectually stagnant - overgrown with stale courses that fail to stimulate the interest of today's student.

Many otherwise well-informed people mistakenly think that the mathematics they learned in school is adequate for their children. But mathematics has changed and is still changing. It is significantly more diverse than it was several decades ago. The mathematics commonly used and learned today goes far beyond arithmetic and elementary geometry.

The number of courses has been increased without any agreement on what the added courses should contain or whether enough capable teachers can be found to teach them. There has been an increased reliance on standardized tests.  There is very little understanding of what the question papers should contain or what they are capable of testing.

Too much importance is given to the marks one obtains in examinations. Few understand that the tests reflect only a small part of curricular objectives. We forget that good marks usually depend upon how faithfully one has been following the prescribed text books from the examination point of view. As a result our students, teachers and parents have become more test-oriented.

The need for mathematically literate manpower compels our institutions to provide more mathematical education to more students than ever before. Accomplishing this will pose significant challenges in developing a core of mathematics which is appropriate for all students.

           We need to stimulate able students with the excitement and challenge of mathematics. Our curricula and teaching should be such that they encourage students to explore and verbalize their mathematical ideas. We need to explain to our students the importance of careful reasoning and disciplined understanding.

The teaching of mathematics is shifting from a preoccupation with inculcating routine skills to developing broad-based mathematical power. Broad mathematical power requires that students be bale to discern relationships, reason logically, and use a range of mathematical techniques to solve a wide variety of non-routine problems.

Mathematics is a living subject that seeks to understand patterns, which permeate both the world around us and the mind within us. Although the language of mathematics is based on rules that must be learned, it is important that students move beyond rules to be able to express things in the language of mathematics. This transformation suggests changes in both curricula and teaching style.

It involves a renewed effort to focus on searching for solutions, not just memorizing procedures; exploring patterns, not just learning formulae; and formulating conjectures, not just doing exercises. As teaching begins to reflect these emphases, students will have opportunities to study mathematics as an exploratory, dynamic, evolving discipline rather than as a rigid, absolute, closed body of laws to be memorized.

Professionalism in teaching must be strengthened through a concerted national effort. This is an essential element of any effective strategy for reforming mathematics in Pakistan. It is the teachers upon whom the real burden of reform rests. The task we are setting before them is very demanding. Teachers need to be given the sustained support and working environment that will make it possible for them to carry out their vital mission, that is, teaching and research.

Efforts to bring about lasting change must proceed steadily for many years on many levels simultaneously. Pakistan must move quickly to improve the state of mathematics education, teaching and research if we are not to be left behind in the modern world.