National Mathematics Day: Mathematics phobia still haunts students

GUWAHATI: As the country celebrated the National Mathematics Day on Tuesday, a huge number of students continued to suffer from the Mathematics phobia syndrome in Assam. The Education department is yet to take any initiative to make the subject an interesting one.

Mathematics phobia syndrome means anxiety and fear about one's ability to do mathematics.

"Many States in the country are implementing innovative measures to make mathematics an interesting, pragmatic and friendlier subject for students. But unfortunately such things are not happening in Assam," Moloy Das, retired teacher of a government high school said.

Data available with the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA) reveals that over 50 percent of students fail in HSLC/AHM examinations every year due to in their inability to score even pass marks in mathematics. A good number of students even after scoring star marks (75 percent or above) and distinction marks (80 percent or above) in HSLC exams, do not pursue the Science stream at the Higher Secondary level due to their mathematics phobia.

A retired Mathematics teacher of Cotton University said the State Education department should set up math labs to make mathematics more pragmatic and life-oriented for students. "The math labs can drive away from the fear of mathematics by making the learning process easier and interesting. The lab uses various educational tools to teach students the basics of circles, triangles, cubes and solve math puzzles in an innovative way," the teacher said.

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