Does the NZ education system fail to cover the basics?

Peter Hughes says our increasing 'inverse pride' at not being good at maths sends a terrible message to kids. Photo / Martin Sykes

Just a third of students going into secondary school are numerate, says a maths lecturer from the University of Auckland.

And because secondary schools focus on algebra, trigonometry, geometry and statistics rather than basic number problems, they may never get a chance to learn the essentials - in fact, numeracy can worsen.

Peter Hughes, the principal lecturer of mathematics at the university's faculty of education, has devised a numeracy test he believes all students should be able to pass by the time they start secondary school.

But he has been told by the head of a secondary school mathematics department that about 70 per cent of Year 11 students would fail it.

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