NSW Students, How Does Compulsory Maths Sound? Because It's Coming

The subject will be mandatory for Year 11 and 12 students.

For those of you who couldn’t wait to wave goodbye to Pythagoras’ Theorem after Year 10, we’re sorry to inform you: your plans have been officially cancelled.

As reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, the New South Wales government will make maths compulsory for Year 11 and 12 students in the near future.

Earlier this week, the NSW Curriculum Review Interim Report was released, signalling a major shakeup to the curriculum. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said in a statement on Thursday, "We promised to take the curriculum back to the basics and today we are taking the first steps to deliver on that commitment by prioritising maths."

"My vision is for every child in NSW to have the necessary maths skills to succeed in life, whether that’s managing home budgets or preparing them for the jobs of the future in science, technology and engineering," she added.

However, if you’re worried about maths dragging down your HSC score, don’t fret too much. While you’ll have to undertake compulsory maths classes in Year 11 or 12, it looks like there will be non-HSC options to choose from. Although, details about the classes have not been confirmed.

The NSW Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell said in a statement that mandatory maths will help students succeed in a competitive workforce.

"Whether you are a carpenter or a software engineer, maths is a companion for life," she said.

"We want to make sure that the new curriculum provides a level of maths concepts that will help every NSW student succeed in life after school."

Some people believe the mandatory maths classes should only tackle life skills, such as financial literacy.

On the other hand, others think making maths compulsory is simply not necessary.

i’m not in nsw but i did maths in year 11&12 but when am i’m ever going to be waking down the street and need to know to plot and regression line on a graph pic.twitter.com/hDh3Ou97R8

— sean 🦌 ~ exams (@chuudreamss) October 23, 2019

And some students are still just freaking out about their HSCs. We believe in you.

waitttt whyv is maths trending in nsw?!?! WAS MY MATHS HSC FINALS YESTERDAY OR SOMETHING?!?!?

— •..×➒Rupali✨ (@fabulousstar00) October 23, 2019

At this stage, the NSW government hasn’t specified when maths will become compulsory.

Now, for those of you who still have to complete your maths HSC exams: go forth and crush it. 

Header Image: iStock.com/blackjake.