A decline has been noted by the Education Ministry in the analytical ability of students and employees.

Minister for Educator, Mahendra Reddy, highlighted this at the Top Executives (TOPEX) Conference held at The Warwick Fiji along Coral Coast yesterday.

“They (students and employees) tend not to question given facts,” he stated.

“They tend to shy away from activities, responsibilities or assignments which require quantitative skills, or they tend to provide second best or substandard advice in the absence of rigorous analytical analysis.”

This, Mr Reddy said, was not unique to Fiji but in fact has become a global challenge.

Following through from this, he also challenged the top executives who were participating at the event and questioned them whether they feel mathematics was important at the workplace.

Opposition to mathematics

Recently, during consultations, a number of school heads raised concerns that mathematics should not be a compulsory subject in school.

“The opponents are arguing that Year 12 level Mathematics is not needed as it is too advanced,” Mr Reddy said.

“While I agree that it will not be needed for day-to-day operations, it is designed to develop and prepare the mind of a student for analytical and logical thinking.

“This is what mathematics up to Year 12 is for.”

University of the South Pacific Vice Chancellor Professor Rajesh Chandra said USP believes strongly that mathematics is very important for all citizens now.

“This is because we live in a very complex and fast-changing world. We recognise mathematics as core skills that all students should have,” he said.

Work/ study dilemma

Mr Reddy raised concerns that employers needed to deal with increase in employees balancing work and studies.

“Over the past three decades, there is a marked increase in part-time students,” he said.

“Universities have encouraged this by providing evening classes as well as studies via Distance Flexible Learning mode.”

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