By Janet Lane
In New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal
Dec. 12, 2013
If Helen cycles four kilometres in nine minutes and then three kilometres in six minutes, what’s her average speed in kilometres per hour? Only four percent of Canadian 15-year olds could answer math questions with this level of difficulty on a recent international student assessment test.
It doesn’t take a mathematician to figure out that something needs to change.
Sure, you could use your smartphone to help figure out Helen’s average speed, but only if you know which numbers to add, divide and multiply. Math, like many things in life, is about knowing what steps to take, in what direction. Because being able to read, understand and solve basic math problems is a fundamental competency, a lack of these skills is a huge economic issue on a number of fronts.
First, the recent Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) study conducted by the OECD once again shows the direct correlation between numeracy skills and income levels. The better you are at math, the more you earn and the more likely you are to be in a rewarding job. While what is rewarding is a personal choice, the newest generation of workers is looking for both high pay and high rewards. Improving their math skills would be a first step in ensuring that they have an opportunity to find what they are looking for.
Second, as noted by the World Bank, “as economies develop, the demand for interactive and analytical skills in the workplace increases steeply and continually, while that for manual and routine cognitive skills falls.” Canada’s economy is well developed and we are moving toward workplaces that will need even higher skills and more technology than they already do. The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) disciplines are the most highly paid jobs in our economy because they provide the best return to industry.
The Canadian economy needs workers who can think critically, make good decisions and be part of high performance teams. As such, math skills, including problem-solving skills, are foundational to working successfully in today’s knowledge-based economy.
Third, Canada’s productivity levels and competitiveness have been slipping relative to the rest of the world. According to the Conference Board, we placed 13th out of 16 countries on labour productivity in 2012. Math skills are crucial to innovation, which in turn leads to productivity increases and ultimately to increased competitiveness.
High levels of basic math skills are important on at least three levels – for individuals, for workplaces, and for the economy as a whole. Reading, writing and ‘rithmatic are fundamental to learning to be, learning to work, and learning to learn. The downward trend we are seeing in the skills of 15-year olds is cause for alarm. The least we can do is ensure that our children start out with the skills they need to succeed when they leave high school.
Ensuring that they have those skills is not just about ensuring that they have the basics, although the multiplication tables are, unfortunately, just as relevant today as they were a hundred years ago. Just as there are different ways to solve a problem, there is no one solution that is going to fix the skill problem.
But we do need to start making changes now. Making math both rigorous and relevant, preparing great teachers who really know the subject and how to teach it, renewing our commitment to ensuring that children can both read and have basic arithmetic skills in the early grades and providing adequate supports for children who are not yet there would be a good start.
Oh, by the way, Helen cycled seven kilometres in fifteen minutes, for an average speed of twenty-eight kilometres per hour.
Janet Lane is the Director of Human Capital Policy at the Canada West Foundation, which exclusively focuses on policies that shape the quality of life in western Canada.