Maths standards in Wales are facing serious problems with performance falling behind the rest of the UK.
This decline has raised concerns about the effectiveness of current teaching strategies, adequacy of teacher training and the implementation of the new Curriculum for Wales, a report by Estyn inspectors suggested.
In recent Pisa international tests, Welsh teenagers did worse in maths than student in the rest of the UK, as per BBC.
"In 2023-2024, females on average performed about a third of a grade worse in mathematics and numeracy than in 2018-2019," the report said.
Report also revealed that in many schools, teachers are giving work just to fill time instead of focusing on helping students learn specific skills and knowledge.
Also, students are not being pushed enough to improve.
It further said that students learn better when teachers expects a lot from their students and give them challenging tasks.
"Pupils who had positive attitudes and enjoyed learning mathematics generally made the best progress," the report said.
Wales' education chief calls for urgent action on maths performance:
Meanwhile, chief inspector of education Owen Evans said many students are not doing as well as they should in maths as they could achieve more, but something is holding them back.
He further emphasized, "Strong mathematics education is fundamental not just to individual futures, but to Wales's future prosperity."
"We need to raise expectations for all learners and provide our teachers with the subject-specific training and support they need to help every pupil succeed," he added.
One school earns praise for positive maths approach:
Other than this, Estyn gave praise to one school, Ysgol Uwchradd Aberteifi as the maths teachers there encouraged a positive attitude towards him.
