How to make maths relevant

The Editor,
Sir:

I still can remember my days in mathematics class at high school. These were very unpleasant days. For five years attending high school, I did not pass any of my maths test. I hated going to maths class because I could not understand what the teacher taught and more so I believed that it did not make much sense to me studying algebra and finding the area of a circle. I just could not understand why I had to solve a maths problem such as 2(a+b)=? That did not make much sense to me.

I commend the minister of education for his intention of placing more emphasis on the teaching of mathematics but I would also want the minister, Andrew Holness, to look seriously on the topics that are now part of the mathematics curriculum because I believe that some of these really don't make much sense and, more so, we need to ask ourselves how can a child learning algebra help him or her later in life.

Electricity bill

Mathematics should be relevant to our daily lives. Why not place more emphasis on the calculation of an electricity bill, taxation and budgeting.

Schools should not be teaching mathematics or as a matter of fact any subject which does not have any relevance to our lives and just maybe we would have seen more persons like me become more appreciative of mathematics.

I am, etc.,

WAYNE SIMMONDS

waynes90@yahoo.co.uk