• Majority of Class 7 and pupils in the country cannot perform a simple numeracy task, a report has revealed.
• The report by People’s Action for Learning PAL indicates 32 per cent of these pupils cannot tell simple data display, time and day and date on calendar.
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The majority of Class 7 and 8 pupils in the country cannot perform a simple numeracy task, a report has revealed.
The report by People’s Action for Learning PAL indicates that 32 per cent of these pupils cannot tell simple data display, time and day and date on the calendar.
The report dubbed International Common Assessment Numeracy –ICAN, was released on Thursday.
The report says whereas 64.1 per cent of pupils in the two classes found it easier to read and tell what time it is, 26.3 per cent found this a daunting task and had no clue.
The report says eight per cent found it harder to read the calendar and tell what day or date it was.
More pupils could tell the time (91.3%) than they found it easier to tell the day or date (71.4%) the study shows.
Cumulatively, 67.4 per cent of the pupils could perform both tasks but only 45.5 per cent could tell time, while 67.9 per cent could tell day and date.
Some 75 per cent of this group said they could tell the day and date, while 55.4 per cent could tell the time.
The survey was conducted in 2019 in 13 low and middle-income countries.
In Kenya, the survey was done in Machakos, Mwala subcounty.
The survey reached a total of 60 randomly selected rural communities, 1,200 households and assessed 1,140 children in the age group of 5 to 16 years.
The children were asked to do a variety of numeracy tasks, including number recognition, number operation and word problems.
Twenty three per cent could not solve subtraction,while some 26 per cent could not solve division tasks.
The study was also done in Bangladesh, India, Mali, Mexico, Mozambique, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda.
In September 2015, 193 countries adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals that provided a framework for measuring progress over the next 15 years.
SDG 4 focuses on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all.
The goals sets bold and ambitious new targets to ensure all children access education, noting “no education target should be considered met unless met by all”.
According to the first target (SDG 4.1), by 2030, all girls and boys should complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.
Within Target 4.1, the first indicator (SDG 4.1.1) tracks the “proportion of children in Grades 2 or 3, at the end of primary education and at the end of lower secondary education achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in reading and mathematics, by sex”.
“Foundational reading and numeracy skills are the building blocks for future progress, both in school and beyond.
"The collective experience of the PAL Network over the past 15 years demonstrates that children who fail to acquire these foundational skills in the early grades fall further and further behind, with few opportunities to catch up later on,” the report said.
With regards to class 4 to 6, the report showed 50 per cent of the pupils could not perform the numeracy tasks.
Cumulatively, while 50 per cent could perform both tasks, 50.8 per cent could not tell what time it is and 22.1 per cent could not tell the day and date on calendar.
Some 65 per cent of these pupils could not handle two-digit by one digit division with remainder, 28.2 per cent could not solve subtraction, while 64.2 per cent could not solve division.
The report further revealed that though those in Class 2 and 3 can recognise numbers from 1-99, most of them cannot solve word problems.
Overall, the report indicates less than three per cent of children aged 8-10 years who are not enrolled in school can do foundational numeracy tasks.