Your views

New data has revealed Kiwi kids’ maths results just hit a record low, prompting the Ministry of Education to call in an expert panel to improve the situation. Herald readers share their views

Ben Hales

My son does not grasp the new way maths is taught very well. However, if I sit down with him and teach him the old way, he gets it quickly and he then gains confidence and enjoys his maths. His school won’t allow these answers as his working out is not the way they now teach. So I’m picking he is not the only kid struggling with it.

Donna Tillman

We need to go back to basics in both the subject matter and the way it is taught. If you don’t have the basics then you can’t do more complicated and advanced maths. Half of the primary school teachers can’t do maths themselves, so they can’t teach it effectively. The whole system needs to be overhauled, go back to how great-grandparents and grandparents were taught before the so-called “new maths” was brought into schools.

Genevieve White

The Numeracy Project, which came in in 2000, sounds good in theory but it simply did not work. I worked as a teacher aide for a few years and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I knew it was a failure. I thought it had been recognised that it hadn’t worked a few years ago but it seems it’s still the method being used. What a massive disservice to our students.

Tony Quasar

Maths is a language. Probably the most important language ever, as it is the language of the entire universe. The first thing you must learn when you study a new language is its basic grammar. The current education system does not implement this fundamental requirement. Basic grammar is not taught even within the English language, making it very difficult for kids to learn other languages in the future.