The article by Kevin Donelly goes to the heart of the problems with mathematics education in Australia, and in many other parts of the developed world, i.e. maths education has been hijacked by education researchers pushing modern fads. Our students are far more likely to be able to tell you how they feel about solving an equation than actually being able to solve it.

The TIMSS test also tells only half the story as it tests only as far as year 8. The problems only get worse in the upper secondary schools. Basic mathematical tools such as algebra are being taught poorly and far too late in the high school.

I lecture Physics at James Cook University and it has become very clear that over the last 10 years there has been a considerable reduction in the mathematical ability of our first year students. And it's not seeing the past through rose coloured glasses. Sections of work that were once taught in first semester of first year we must now delay until the end of first year or even second year. The students simply no longer have the basic tools in algebra and calculus to cope with what we used to teach.

My son is presently in year 8 and and he has a friend who recently returned to Indonesia. Talking to his parents, I learned without any surprise that they were giving their son extra lessons in maths as the Queensland syllabus would put him 6 to 12 months behind Indonesia. I took a copy of the Indonesian textbook and did a comparison with the text that my son used. This comparison confirmed the conclusion that the Indonesians are indeed ahead of Queensland.

So where does the problem lay. A good start would be to blame educational researchers. It is they who are responsible for the trendy experiments that have been conducted on our kids. Singapore presently leads the world in the performance in mathematics of its kids. I am willing to bet that Singapore has a far more old fashioned (but advanced)educational system where basic drilling of fundamental concepts of arithmatic, algebra and calculus are emphasised, i.e. very different from what our system has become.

This is a link to the PISA 2000 test http://pisa-sq.acer.edu.au/
judge for yourselves.
I'm reminded of this line whenever I read poeple bemoaning education.
There is now less flogging in our great schools than formerly, but then less is learned there; so that what the boys get at one end they lose at the other.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) Boswell's Life.

ps I before E except after C ! how do you spell feint?

High school is not prep for Uni it's prep for life.