Spain has a problem in mathematics, to the point that in our country a devastating picture is becoming more and more common: exams for teachers of this subject called and whose places remain unfilled in a high percentage.
For example, in the Community of Madrid, of the 419 positions offered in the June call, 269 remained vacant, despite the fact that more than 1,500 applicants attended. This will lead the Department of Education in Madrid to continue ‘continuing’ with groups of interims. The problem extends to other regions.
Seen it coming
The issue has been going on for a long time, although the trend, rather than reversing, seems to be getting worse.
There are less and less Mathematics graduates explaining this subject in institutes and colleges. And the truth is that those who managed to finish this degree have a wide range of placements in the private sector, so few of them choose to teach.
Companies that design artificial organs, banks that need to create an investment portfolio, tax advisors, data analysts, logistics and transportation … graduates, mostly engineers.
The Spanish Federation of Societies of Mathematics Teachers (FESPM) has long warned about the problem. If fewer graduates complete their degrees each year (which cannot replace retiring teachers), the wide and varied job offer in the private sector makes up for the rest.
National priority
This pain in Spanish mathematics is in contrast to the situation experienced in other countries, such as the United Kingdom, where the Conservative Government has recently applied different formulas, which include a large investment, to train thousands of teachers in a digital center in London. schools and institutes with the best teachers.
In addition, the British strategy involves encouraging the best people studying mathematics and science to embrace the teaching cause and ignore the siren songs of other sectors. The country approves course expenses for the best students who intend to study Mathematics, Physics or Chemistry in exchange for their commitment to teaching in classrooms in the United Kingdom for at least five years.
In Spain, sticking to the tires
While this is happening, the truth is that it is not as if the Spanish authorities are working together to reverse the situation. Moreover, they were able to check it. Aspiring primary school teachers receive the same number of training hours in gender equality as in core subjects such as Mathematics, Language and Literature, Social Sciences or Natural Sciences.
This is reflected in the requirements for the verification of study plans leading to the acquisition of official university degrees to qualify for the exercise of the teaching profession, included in the draft Order of the Ministry of Universities .
The Royal Spanish Mathematical Society regrets the proposal of that ministry to reduce the mandatory training of mathematics for graduates of Primary Teaching to a subject of 6 credits (60 hours) from a total of 240 credits. In other words, same as gender equality.
