India’s equation with maths has a past, a present, and a robust future

India's legacy in mathematics is unparalleled but the nation's feat doesn't end with the discovery of 'zero', it begins with it...

You can take an Indian out of India but can one take maths out of an Indian (or someone with Indian roots)? Probably not. So when UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced his plans to make maths education compulsory for students in England till the age of 18, Indians weren't surprised.

Indian-origin UK Prime Minister, in his first speech of 2023, said that in a world where data is everywhere and statistics underpin every job, letting the children out into that world without those skills is letting the children down. He said that he wanted people to have the skills they needed "to feel confident" with finances and things like mortgage deals.

The world might be waking up to the importance of mathematics education now, but India's understanding and acknowledgement of this field has been exceptionally futuristic and progressive right from the earliest times.

A majority of Indian parents, even today, ensure that their children study all subjects well but the performance in mathematics is always non-negotiable and emphasised upon.

The Past: From ' zero' to vedic maths, it's India all the way

In 1114, Bhaskaracharya told the world that any number divided by zero is infinity and the sum of any number and infinity is infinity, Aryabhatta worked on the 'place value system' and described the number of days in a year to be 365.

Bhrahmagupta introduced the concept and competing methods of zero while Srinivasa Ramanujan gave the world important concepts in algebra, fractions and number theory. The list of such stalwarts is endless with many names such as Medhatithi and Madhyatithi, Baudhayan, P C Mahalanobis, Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao, D R Kaprekar, Satyendranath Bose and so on.

Vedic maths, a system of intricate mathematic calculation, finds its first mention in the Vedas. It is the world's fastest mental maths system and most of the simple to complex problems can be solved by using 16 Sanskrit word formulae of Vedic maths.

Present: Indians among the best in Maths globally

While India has had a legacy of extraordinary mathematicians and scholars with immense knowledge and contribution in the field of mathematics, the legacy continues. The longstanding tradition of mathematics has been passed through successive generations, and the result is a country that passionately aims to nurture its youth with a love for maths and science.

Even late physicist Stephen Hawkings, during his India tour in 2001, couldn't stop himself from praising Indians for their mathematical skills Indians.

In 2010, Indians scored higher than the global average in GMAT's quantitative section that tests maths skill. While the worldwide average score in the section was 37, for India it was 42.

A more recent study in 2019 by online learning platform Coursera found that even while Indians need to upskill in areas such as data science and business, Indians are strong in mathematics in the Global Skill Index. India showed high proficiency in machine learning and mathematics at 52 and 54 per cent respectively.

Further, the report found that Indian learners are relatively more adept at digital skills like cloud computing and machine learning but there is a significant skill challenge across the three key domains of business, technology, and data science. Cloud Computing is India's strongest technology skill with 83 per cent proficiency.

Future: For India, the only way is upwards

According to the India Brand Equity Foundation report, the education sector in India was estimated to be worth USD 117 billion in FY20 and is expected to reach USD 225 billion by FY25.

Number of colleges in India reached 42,343 in FY20. As of November 25, 2022, the number of universities in India stood at 1,072. In 2022-23, there are 8,902 total AICTE approved institutes in India. Out of these 8,902 institutes, there are 3,577 undergraduate, 4,786 postgraduate and 3,957 diploma institutes.

According to KPMG, India has also become the second largest market for E-learning after the US.

Nine Indian institutes - the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru and eight Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) - were among the top 500 universities in the QS World University Rankings 2023.

India has 89 universities in Times Higher Education Emerging Economies University Rankings 2022, behind Russia with 100 and China with 97.

India has the largest population in the world in the age bracket of 5-24 years with 580 million people thus the opportunities as well as challenges for the education sector are aplenty. The government of India has put in place a New Education Policy 2020, a first major shift and haul in the education system in the country in over three decades.

With well thought plans and a focus on making the country's youth life-ready, India is sure to continue and further strengthen its legacy and pride in the field of mathematics.

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