Tired, hungry and bored: Why Aussie kids are flunking maths

A damning new report reveals why Aussie students are falling behind in maths and science, and the problems start at home.

The problems start at home for Australian children who are struggling in the classroom.

Hungry, tired and bored students are dragging down Australia’s dunce performance in global maths and science tests.

One in four Australian kids is going to school hungry every day and a third of students are turning up tired, a startling new study shows.

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) report reveals the reasons Aussie kids are falling behind in maths and science, and the problems start at home.

Shockingly, 28 per cent of the Australian students in years 4 and 8 are going to school hungry, with 34 per cent tired when they turn up to class.

ACER deputy chief executive Dr Sue Thomson said this was a “huge cause for concern’’.

‘It’s unacceptable’. Educators are concerned about the way Australian students are performing in maths.

“Australia is a rich, highly developed nation, and it’s unacceptable that our students are arriving at school undernourished and academically underprepared,’’ she said.

“Not only is it affecting their early school performance … but they are very unlikely ever to catch up with their higher performing classmates, with devastating long-term results.’’

Teaching quality is also a problem for Australian students, with the ACER study revealing that one in every four maths teachers did not major in the subject at university.

The international average is just 10 per cent for “out-of-field” maths teaching.

One in 11 science teachers in Australia had not majored in science subjects, compared to just 6 per cent internationally.

Dr Thomson, who is a former maths teacher, said Australia has one of the highest rates of out-of-field teaching.

“It means teachers are under pressure, often due to understaffing, to teach subjects outside their field of expertise,’’ she said.

“Students are being taught complex concepts by educators who are underqualified in the subject area.’’

Teachers are under pressure in the classroom when it comes to subjects like maths.

Asian students thrashed Australian students in the latest Trends in International mathematics and science Study (TIMSS) test of 580,000 students in 64 countries, including nearly 15,000 Australian kids.

Australia’s Year 8 students were beaten by children from five “Asian tiger’’ economies – Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Korea, Japan and Hong Kong – as well as Russia.

The new report, based on surveys completed by the students who sat the test, shows that Australian students spend more time studying maths than the Asian kids who beat them in the global exam.

Year 8 students in Australia spend an average 141 hours a year learning maths, compared to the international average of 137 hours and 135 hours in the top-performing Singapore.

In Year 4, Australian students spend 190 hours a year learning maths, compared to the international average of 154 hours and 101 hours in Korea.

Aussie kids are less likely than Asian students to enjoy learning maths or science.

Half the Australian students in Year 8 said they did not like learning maths, compared to a third of students in Singapore and 12 per cent internationally.

More than a quarter of Australian students did not like learning science, compared to 14 per cent of Singaporean students.

Aussie kids are twice as likely as students from 63 other industrialised countries to start school with a literacy or numeracy handicap.

Half the Year 4 students in Australia attend schools where three-quarters of students started school without basic skills in reading or writing.

Worldwide, only 20 per cent of Year 4 students attend schools where so many students lack literacy and numeracy.

Dr Thomson said this showed the importance of giving all children access to quality childcare and preschool.

Originally published as Tired, hungry and bored: Why Aussie kids are flunking maths