P.V. Arunachalam, founder Vice-Chancellor, Dravidian University, has been associated with development of mathematics for the intermediate syllabus in Andhra Pradesh for over 35 years. The renowned professor has played an important role in authoring mathematics textbooks for classes 6to 10 in the State syllabus. He has authored NCERT mathematics textbooks for classes 7 and 8. The septuagenarian, who in all has authored 35 books on mathematics, is actively involved in changing, streamlining, and modernising the mathematics syllabus for intermediate first and second year. In a year, which is being celebrated as the Year of Mathematics, the senior mathematician answers some burning issues that are impacting the popularity of mathematics.
Why popularity of mathematics in higher education is on the decline?
It is not just mathematics, but the entire basic sciences have suffered big time in the last decade. Students and parents do not see mathematics as a fetching field anymore. Job opportunities have dried up for mathematics graduates. Consider a scenario where a job interview is going on. The qualifications of the candidates who came for the interview include M.Sc (Mathematics), MCA, MBA and a B.Tech graduate. It is easy to predict, who among the candidates will not get the job. Yes, M.Sc (Mathematics) candidate will be the last choice for the job. This reflects the state of Mathematics in our country. I have seen a similar phenomenon in US and UK too. Good job opportunities in IT sector has weaned away talented students from basic science.
What is the present status on the teaching side of mathematics at higher level?
Mediocre students who have failed to make it big in other sectors are now getting into the mathematics stream. They are becoming professors and teachers. Average students are now occupying important positions in mathematics departments across Universities in the Country. This trend is affecting mathematics teaching.
Average teachers are not inspiring students. They are not capable of stimulating the minds of impressionable students in schools. They are getting joining the profession because all other avenues for them have closed. This has become a vicious cycle and nobody is making an attempt to break it.
Another factor is the lack of good mathematics books in the market. Except for the prescribed text books and guides, there are no good mathematics books capable of influencing young minds. Srinivasa Ramanujam taught himself through books. So nobody can underestimate the power of good books. It is a pity that Indian mathematicians have stopped writing on popular mathematics.
Why there is a phobia towards mathematics among children?
I agree that students and parents are phobic to mathematics. I lay the blame for such a situation squarely on teachers. They have failed to improvise and make classroom learning an interesting activity. Bright students are not taking up teaching as a profession because of limited pay. Average teacher can become a talented instructor but there is no incentive for teachers to learn more. There is need to strengthen instructional strategies. New ideas to make mathematics learning interesting should be explored. There is a need to set up mathematics laboratories in schools. Such new concepts are in place in the West. There is also a great need to expose teachers to training in mathematics. In that way, we can empower the teacher with knowledge and skills.
Can new teaching tools like computers, CDs and DVDs help in teaching mathematics?
The days of ‘talk and chalk' in the classrooms are over. Science is evolving rapidly and we are living in times of knowledge explosion.
There is a huge amount of information out there to which students have to be exposed. And for that to happen, teachers have to make effort to go beyond text books. This will happen when teachers are trained to use IT tools in their teaching. The time to cover the syllabus is always limited and that's where IT tools should be used to pump more information in the classroom in a limited time.
There is also a need to develop a system of providing incentives to teachers. Why would a teacher work hard to make his classroom interesting? There should be a reward system in place in which talented and hardworking teachers can be identified and sent to foreign universities for training and interaction with their counterparts.
What about the role of parents?
Parents in India are trying to realize their unfulfilled ambitions through their children.
They simply ignore the aptitude and orientation of the child and try to enforce their will on to their children. This is not the case in Western countries.
I personally feel that parents should give ample space to their children and allow them to choose their own professional of choice. This will help in producing experts in varied fields of knowledge rather than the present situation wherein we only have good IT workers.
