Math program failing students, Liberals say while promising change

Numerous warnings from experts, parents and teachers thatNewfoundland and Labrador'smath curriculum is failing students has provincial Liberals promising change.

"We've got really serious problems in our education system," said Liberal education critic DaleKirby. "I'm not an expert in math but it doesn't take an expert to figure out that we have a problem."

'We really need to solve the problemat the sourceand the source is in theK-12school system.'- Dale Kirby, Liberal education critic

On Mondaya former head ofMemorial University's math department, Herb Gaskill,toldCBC's St. John's Morning Show that the math programis"a mile wide and an inch deep."

He said a lackof memory-based instruction,such as learning times tables, in the early gradesis setting students up for failure.

"What we need to do is listen to people like Dr. Gaskill," said Kirby."We really need to have more balance in our approach to mathand we really need to review this curriculum."

Math review silenced

In this spring's budget,theNewfoundland and Labrador government promised toreview the math curriculum,but Kirby said no money has been set aside for that.

"Since that time we've had math silence," said Kirby. "There hasn't been a word spoken about it since."

Kirby said that Liberal leader Dwight Ball has made education review a priority for the election campaign. Ball wants to immediately form a task force to focus on educational outcomes.

"A review of mathematics, the curriculum, our approach and so on will be one of the cornerstones of that task force," said Kirby.

'We really need to solve the problemat the source'

According to Kirby, many of Newfoundland and Labrador's high school graduatesdonot acquire the necessary courses to register for post-secondary education.

Hebelievessomething dramaticneeds to be done to fix the problembefore students reach that level.

"We can't expect someone else to resolve it once they are pushed out of or graduate from school," said Kirby. "We really need to solve the problemat the source and the source is in the K-12 school system."