The subject of mathematics has been fear-inducing in many students. The subject has been thus difficult to tackle for many students but the latest survey shows that Class 10 students are worse performers in the subject. The National Achievement Survey (NAS) conducted by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) this year found that Class 10 students from all the states and union territories were worse at maths even than Class 3 students. The findings are a sign that the mathematics syllabus needs a change. Another aspect shows girls in some states are better performers in the subject as compared to boys.

The average performance in the mathematics was highest in Andhra Pradesh at 40.94% while Sikkim scored lowest with 27%. The survey understands the learning percentage across the country and it was found that in other subjects, the average scored were between 50-55%. But maths remains a difficulty to be tackled. On comparing the scores, 64% of Class 3 students answered a math problem correctly vis-a-vis to Class 10 students who fell even below 40%.

This survey had a total of 1.5 million students from 44,514 schools in 610 districts across the country, the largest-ever survey of student achievements for Class 10 conducted by NCERT. These learning outcomes are "assessment standards indicating the expected levels of learning that children should achieve for that class," as described by the Human Resource and Development Ministry. They are important for trainers to understand the student achievements collectively and thus develop the teaching styles.

The lower percentages suggest that mathematics needs a major change in the syllabus. The syllabus taught today is tuned to prepare the students for competitive exams like the IITs. "We need to reflect on Mathematics education for all children, not only for competitive exams. We need to overhaul mathematics curriculum -- not to dumb it down but to prevent dumping of topics for extraneous reasons and to aim for universal quality mathematisation," according to professor Janaki Rajan as quoted to Hindustan Times report.

The best performers in Maths state-wise are Andhra Pradesh (40.94), Assam (39.52), Rajasthan (38.6), Orissa and Karnataka. But girls from Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Pondicherry and Tamil Nadu are better at the subject than boys. While students from Dadra Nagar Haveli, Meghalaya, Jammu and Kashmir and Lakshadweep are worst performers in Maths.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 16, 2018 07:20 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).