08/01/2018

Folha: 'Not even 4% of our young people are proficient in mathematics'

At the launch of the Serrapilheira Institute at IMPA (Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics) in March 2017, Branca and João Moreira Salles were asked what motivated them to invest part of their assets in funding science and disseminating scientific culture.

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João told the story of when he was surprised by the size of his class in the Film course at PUC-Rio: 30 students. It seemed excessive to him, in a country that doesn't even have a film industry. He crossed the campus to find out how many were studying mathematics: there were only two. "A country that produces far more filmmakers than mathematicians is heading towards catastrophe," he concluded, "which will undoubtedly be very well filmed, but will still be a catastrophe."

The problem of mathematics in Brazil goes far beyond the shortage of students, of course. A few years ago, two professors from Unicamp questioned the usefulness of opening more engineering places in universities. Marcelo Knobel, the current rector of Unicamp, and his colleague Fernando Paixão took as their starting point the results of PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), carried out every three years by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, with 15-year-olds from more than 70 countries.

PISA results are classified into six levels. In mathematics, level two is considered necessary for exercising citizenship, and level four is the minimum required for careers in technological fields. Unfortunately, the results are telling: less than 4% of our young people reach level four or higher on the test. In Australia, it's 38%, in Canada 43%, and in South Korea 52%.

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