Victorian students are turning away from advanced maths, prompting warnings that the trend will accelerate a growing skills shortage in fields such as engineering and drain Australia of crucial expertise in technology.
Enrolments in VCE specialist mathematics – the most advanced strand of maths – have dropped more than 15 per cent in the past six years.
The fall coincides with a nationwide decline in the supply of qualified secondary maths teachers, a worsening problem the Mathematical Sciences Institute labelled the greatest threat to the future health of Australian mathematical skill. Kermond said the decline in experienced mathematics teachers meant students were not being nurtured in the subject in lower year levels.“Many schools don’t run specialist maths classes because of low numbers and a lack of teachers competent enough to teach it,” he said.“Over time this creates a culture where specialist maths simply drops off the radar at that school.”
Gavin has worked in a large secondary school in Melbourne where just three VCE students enrolled in the subject, forcing them to study remotely. At his current school, low enrolments mean he will take a composite class of year 11 and 12 students this year. One student who is defying the trend is Aakriti Malhotra, who will study specialist maths in year 12 at Suzanne Cory High, a select-entry government school in Werribee, this year.
MacMaster is chair of a national taskforce seeking to encourage more girls to participate in engineering, science and mathematics, and said advanced maths needed to be made more widely available in schools, and that encouraging mathematically qualified mid-career professionals into teaching is one way to do this.
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