“Learning mathematics should be fun,” said Dr. Madhav Chavan, Head of Pratham, India’s largest non-governmental organization for education, while speaking at the International Numeracy Conference in Berlin. He emphasized the need for children to learn real-life applications of mathematics. “This is one of Pratham’s main goals. Because of this, children in Pratham’s programs come to class earlier than their teachers!” Pratham is renowned for its effective learning programs and recently won the 2012 Prize for Education at the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) in Qatar.
The International Numeracy conference, hosted by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Global Partnership for Education from December 3-4, 2012 created a stimulating environment for donors, multilaterals, NGOs, and academics to discuss the opportunities and challenges for numeracy in the coming years. How can we as a development community move the numeracy agenda forward?
Numeracy experts presented on emerging and pressing thematic areas in numeracy:
- Mobile learning
- Learning outcomes and assessments
- Early grade development and learning
- Lessons that can be learned from literacy
Discussions ranged from the importance of numeracy and literacy and how they should be given equal importance at the early grades, to specific issues in teaching and learning mathematics. “Numeracy is often seen as the younger sibling of literacy”, said Ed Barnett, education advisor at the UK Department for International Development (DfID). He emphasized that more work should be done to move the numeracy agenda forward along with the literacy agenda. Dr. Jeff Davis, Numeracy Expert at School to School International, highlighted the importance to invest in early grade mathematics with research showing that a child’s performance on early mathematics is valid predictor of a child’s later achievement in school.
While the Numeracy conference reinvigorated a lot of new and emerging ideas, the discussions will not stop in Berlin!
We will continue our interactions virtually with our online community of practice on Numeracy and invite everyone interested in numeracy to join. All presentations delivered at the conference and related materials will be posted on the Community of Practice site. Two webinars in December will feature 4 numeracy experts who presented at the conference. This will be a great opportunity for everyone interested in numeracy to join an exciting discussion and connect with others working on numeracy. I am looking forward to meeting you in our virtual space!
Upcoming webinars
December 12, 2012, 10:00 – 11:00am EST (3:00 – 4:00pm GMT) ?Mobile Learning and Numeracy: Carmen Strigel and Sarah Pouezevara (RTI International) ?Learning Outcomes Assessments: Jeff Davis (School-to-School International) and Yasmin Sitabkhan (University of Berkeley)
December 19, 2012, 10:00 – 11:00am EST (3:00 – 4:00pm GMT) ?Early Grade Development and Numeracy: Albrecht von Müller (Parmenides Foundation, Germany) ?Synergies from Literacy and how to Fast Track Numeracy: Luis Crouch (Global Partnership for Education)
How to Access Numeracy Webinars
To access the webinar through Adobe Connect: http://worldbankva.adobeconnect.com/numeracywebinar/ (Click on the “Enter as Guest” option, enter your full name in the text field and then click the “Enter Room” button.)
Visit our Numeracy Webinar Series page for more information.