Have Maths Phobia? The Govt Will Help You Get Rid of 'Fear' With Its Panel of Experts

New Delhi: A committee has been formed to suggest measures to combat mathematics phobia among students after a national survey of state-run schools revealed "fear complex" about the subject, Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Wednesday.

He said the committee, with educationists and officers as its members, will submit its report within three months.

The minister said another panel under Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Kadiam Srihari has been formed to make in-service teacher training more efficient.

"One thing has come up in the National Assessment Survey 2017 that students have fear complex about maths. We have formed a committee under Gujarat Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama to see how to remove that fear complex so that the students see it as a friendly subject, Javadekar told reporters here.

He was apprising the media about the outcome of the annual meeting of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

The National Achievement Survey (NAS) was conducted for classes 3, 5 and 8 in government and government-aided schools throughout the country in November last.

The survey used multiple test booklets with 45 questions for classes 3 and 5 related to language, mathematics; and 60 questions for class 8 in mathematics, language, sciences and social sciences.

The learning levels of more than 25 lakh students from 1,10,000 schools across 700 districts in all 36 states/UTs were assessed under the survey.

Speaking about the in-service teacher training, Javadekar said a committee has been formed to give suggestions to make the practice more efficient. It will also submit its report within three months, he added.

The HRD minister said six state education ministers and principal education secretaries from other states attended the NCERT meeting in which they appreciated various measures taken by the Ministry of Human Resource Development in the education sector.

He added that 6 crore NCERT books were published this year as compared to 3 crore books three years ago, indicating the interest evinced by schools in adopting the books for teaching.