Kids with real-world maths skills can struggle with school arithmetic

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2025-02-06 03:00

International

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Kids who learn to solve complex maths problems in the 'real world' may still struggle with arithmetic in the school. Researchers surveyed children working as market vendors in India, and found most were able to solve complex, market-related problems, but generally couldn't solve simpler problems written in the abstract format used in school. By contrast, non-working children enrolled in nearby schools did better with simple abstract problems, but only 1% could correctly answer a market problem. Authors of the study say that working children need to be introduced to maths in a way that harnesses their intuitive understanding.

Journal/
conference: Nature

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA; Ananda Bazar Patrika, India; Indian Institute of Management, India; New York University, USA; Harvard University, USA

Funder: This project was funded by the Post-Primary Education Initiative of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), the Foundation Blaise Pascal and the Fonds AXA pour la Recherche. The Delhi Directorate of Education authorized the conduct of two of the studies in this article.

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