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These everyday numeracy skills will be taught in a new NSW year 11 and 12 HSC maths course.
An evaluation of the numeracy course found it increased mathematics participation by up to 11 per cent for students studying vocational education and training courses, and by up to eight per cent for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
Numeracy will count towards the HSC but is a category B course, meaning there is no exam and it will not contribute to an Australian Tertiary Entrance Rank calculation. The existing category B maths course, Maths Standard 1, can either be taken as an ATAR or non-ATAR subject.
Aidan Sims, the head of University of Wollongong's School of Mathematics and Applied Statistics, said it was great see NSW develop a program aimed at engaging everyone with mathematics both for their day-to-day lives and for their further education.
"Mathematical thinking and numeracy are more and more important to thinking critically about information we get from advertising, from social media and from all around us," he said.
"It's also increasingly important in more and more areas of ongoing education because of the increasing influence of big data.
"Tomorrow's thinkers, whatever they are thinking about, will be all the more effective if they include mathematical thinking in their mental toolkits."
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Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the new course was part of the NSW Mathematics Strategy, which was aimed at ensuring all students had the support they needed to develop key numeracy skills and apply them to life.
"Students who have been a part of the pilot course are more engaged in maths by up to 11 percentage points, which is a huge success and will help set them up for the future," Ms Mitchell said.
"We've seen increased engagement, particularly from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, students in rural and remote areas and students studying vocational education and training courses."
The release of new course on Monday coincided with the launch of the 2021 Maths Trains Brains campaign, which aims to drive interest and engagement with mathematics.
"Mathematics is so important, and this campaign encourages everyone from students to parents and carers to engage with mathematics," Ms Mitchell said.
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