Secondary level mathematics curriculum of Kerala: A critical appraisal

Abstract

According to NCF (2005) Mathematics is a compulsory subject at the Secondary stage. Access to quality Mathematics Education is the right of every child. The document emphasizes that the main goal of mathematics education is to develop children's abilities for mathematisation. It also talks about a higher aim of School mathematics, that is, to develop the child's resources to think and reason mathematically to pursue assumptions to their logical consideration and to handle abstraction. This calls for a curriculum that is ambitious, coherent and teaching important principles of mathematics. But in the present day scenario, learning of mathematics is entirely different. Mathematics is considered as a very difficult subject and studying the subject as a herculean task. Many students hate mathematics and fail miserably in the subject. This paper attempts to find out whether the difficulty in the subject owes to the deformities in the prevailing Secondary school Curriculum of Kerala. Efforts are made to explore how far the NCF (2005) and KCF (2007) norms are followed in the current mathematics curriculum with special reference to the high school Mathematics text books. The paper also attempts to incorporate the drawbacks of the textbooks, a comparison of the old and new text books and suggestions to minimize the limitations embodied in the curriculum.