Till last Saturday, 51 government colleges had enrolled students in single digits and four of them were not able to attract a single student. Many more colleges may opt to close the BSc maths course and open additional sections in computer or commerce branches next year.
The admission in affiliated colleges of Madras University also fell by 50%. If the present trend continues, experts say there could be a shortage of maths teachers in schools. This in turn could affect the performance of students in entrance tests and the state may lose its edge in emerging disciplines as maths plays an important role in logical thinking and reasoning.
Experts have called for overhauling the syllabus, teaching in schools and revamping BSc maths course application-oriented courses.
Teachers say the pandemic induced learning gap is the reason for lack of interest in maths in the last two years. A rush for engineering, computer-related courses contributed to a decline in interest.
T V Venkateswaran, senior scientist at Vigyan Prasar, said a major overhaul of syllabus in schools is needed. “We need to change the way maths is taught. Teaching through group activity, peer learning should be done, coupled with coding, data analytics to create interest,” he said.
The fall in admissions will lead to a dip in quality of maths education in schools, he warned.
Senior academicians recalled that BSc maths was the most preferred course as there were fewer engineering colleges. “In the 1970s & 1980s, the state toppers used to opt for BSc maths and physics. It was tough to get admission,” said professor T R Subramaniam, director of TRS IIT Classes.
Top institutes like Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Madras Institute of Technology (MIT) used to accept BSc math or physics graduates for BE, BTech courses, he added.
He also said a four-year BSc-BEd maths programme will attract more students. “Prospects for students studying maths are much higher with data science. Students who are interested in maths are pushed to engineering as parents don’t see it as a professional course,” said professor Madhavan Mukund, director, Chennai MathematicaI Institute.
He said introducing applied maths such as data science, actuarial science in BSc maths may be a good idea.
Professors expect the trend to change. “The present Class XII students have attended two-years of schooling. They will be strong in fundamentals of mathematics. I expect the trend to change,” said M Pichaimani, director, Ramanujan Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics, University of Madras.