Maths lecturer hits out at lack of numeracy

Only a third of students are numerate going into secondary school, and the process of teaching mathematics needs to be addressed, an Auckland University maths lecturer says.

Most students did not understand numbers to a level classed as numerate when they started secondary school and subsequent teaching did not help them, Peter Hughes said.

Rather than learn the basics they lacked, they were taught algebra, trigonometry, geometry and statistics , he told The New Zealand Herald newspaper.

This meant their numeracy could worsen.

Students were able to gain numeracy credits for NCEA level 1 by doing trigonometry, algebra and geometry -- which rely on rules -- without necessarily demonstrating they understood mathematics.

"Less able students can get their credits by selecting from appalling low-level standards," he said.

He had devised a numeracy test which he believed all students should be able to pass by the time they started secondary school.

One secondary school's maths department head told him 70 percent of Year 11 students would fail it.

Mr Hughes said the Government's plan to set standards would not help because it was the process of teaching mathematics that needed to be addressed.