GUWAHATI, July 19 - Moving ahead of its conventional role of conducting examinations and evaluating answer scripts, the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA) has now initiated measures to address the mathematics phobia among students that affects their overall performance.
SEBA is now training maths teachers of high school level on how to make the students comfortable with various concepts of mathematics and to address their anxiety related to the subject. SEBA is also going to introduce concept revision chapters in maths textbooks of classes 9 and 10 from next year. The additional chapters would contain all essential concepts of maths learnt from primary classes up to class 8. These revision chapters would also be helpful for students who had a weak foundation of maths in primary and middle school levels.
�The mathematics phobia is real. A study of the performance assessment of students in the past has shown that nearly 83 per cent of the students have a mathematics-related anxiety. This affects the overall result of even good students who score excellent marks in other subjects. The Board is now giving special emphasis to address the issues that intervene with a student�s ability to perform in maths with ease in higher classes,� SEBA Chairman RC Jain told The Assam Tribune.
This is a first-of-its-kind initiative from the Board, which is taking the help of expert resource persons from the Assam Academy of Mathematics and two Bengaluru-based organisations � Uddyam Foundation and IT For Change � to make teachers understand the psychological nuances associated with teaching and learning of maths. A five-day training session for 32 students from across the State was completed on Friday.
�SEBA, being the academic authority, understands the requirements of students and is in a better position to design a module that fits the requirement of our students,� the SEBA chairman added.
The Board also arranged for taking the teachers to watch the Hrithik Roshan-starrer Super 30 that inspires teachers to encourage their students to perform excellently despite all odds. In the next phase, SEBA would arrange special training for the English courses.
This initiative bears special significance for SEBA-affiliated government and venture schools that have maximum enrollment from poor and middle income group families that have lesser access to means and resources to address the psychological issues.
�Maths is all about concepts. Even if the teacher is a master of the subject, he or she must know how to explain the practical application of maths in real life. Students cannot mug-up the sums, they need to understand its practical application,� said Ram Deka, president of the Assam Academy of Mathematics.
