The numbers of Year 12 students studying intermediate and advanced maths has fallen in recent years to about 35 per cent.
That’s prompted a move for science, technology, engineering and maths subjects to be made mandatory for all Year 11 and 12 students in Australia.
Professor Geoff Prince is the Director of the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute.
“Mathematical literacy is empowering, mathematical illiteracy is debilitating,” he says.
But he’s not sure making maths compulsory is a workable solution.