Quality early education in mathematics is crucial to increase numeracy standards and set kids up both for successful academic and professional careers. It seems however that young Australian students are falling significantly behind in this domain. A new research has revealed that some Australian kids are still unable to perform tasks as simple as doing basic addition or reading basic words when they start kindergarten, or recognizing numbers higher than 10 and alphabet letters when they enter primary school.
According to The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), students entering primary school with lower numeracy and literacy skills may have contributed to Australia’s poorer results in international tests. Jordana Hunter, The Grattan Institute's education program director, says that there is a need to help primary school teachers with professional training, including coaching from math specialists.
For its part Professor Tom Alegounarias, the chairman of the University of Sydney Centre for Educational Assessment, thinks mathematics should be taught at an earlier age and in a deeper way to keep up with the best ranked countries in this regard, like Singapore and China.
Picture: Arcanys Early Learning Foundation
