Maharashtra general mathematics to be scrapped from 2017 for ix and x

Maharashtra: General Mathematics to be scrapped from 2017 for IX and X

State Board to do away with Mathematics and General Mathematics as it hinders career prospects of students.

By 28th Oct, 2016 | 04:38 pm

The Maharashtra State Board had introduced General Mathematics (GM) for Classes 9 and 10 in 2008. This version of Math was not as hard to crack as Regular Mathematics (RM). Over the years, it was noticed that students who opted for GM could not pursue a career in engineering, architecture or study polytechnic courses. Slowly but steadily, GM lost its popularity among students. In 2016 year, only about 1 lakh students in Maharashtra opted for the subject in SSC. Meanwhile, more than 16 lakh students opted to pursue RM.

Prachi Sathe, officer on special duty, education department stated, "We reviewed the situation and found the purpose for which GM was introduced was not achieved. The success rate of students opting for RM remained the same as not many were comfortable dropping the subject.”

Ninety percent of the teachers, parents and students who were invited to discuss about the matter unanimously agreed that there should be a single subject. A minority suggested the question paper could vary in difficulty levels.

Prachi further added that students had to choose between RM and GM at an age when they were undecided on their career. The state government has been planning to create an alternative to help students cope with mathematics itself. Experts are currently reviewing and researching as to what can be done instead of having two different subjects. There might be a change in the evaluation pattern and question papers could be modified. The State is also upgrading Class 9 textbooks to incorporate changes in language, science and history from 2017.