Just a third of students going into secondary school are numerate, says a maths lecturer from the University of Auckland.
And because secondary schools focus on algebra, trigonometry, geometry and statistics rather than basic number problems, they may never get a chance to learn the essentials - in fact, numeracy
can worsen.
Peter Hughes, the principal lecturer of mathematics at the university's faculty of education, has devised a numeracy test he believes all students should be able to pass by the time they start secondary school.
But he has been told by the head of a secondary school mathematics department that about 70 per cent of Year 11 students would fail it.
Does the NZ education system fail to cover the basics? Here is the latest selection of Your Views:
