Under the current curriculum, statistics are introduced in fourth grade, while probability is only taught in 11th grade.
Starting from the 2020–2021 school year, primary school students will follow a new curriculum, which will introduce statistics and probability in math class in second grade, Tuoi Tre reports. Many parents are worried that these topics are too advanced for second graders.
However, according to the chief editor of the curriculum, Do Duc Thai, the actual content of the program is less intimidating than it sounds. Thai said that the statistics and probability lessons, like all lessons in the new curriculum, are built and structured through learning activities, which use simple, real-life examples that are familiar to students to teach them these skills.
Both statistics and probability will have more lessons compared to the old curriculum, however, the level of difficulty will remain the same, according to the news source. Unlike the old program, which included these lessons inconsistently in fourth, fifth, tenth and seventh grades, statistics and probability will be a reoccurring component in textbooks from second grade to 12th grade.
The shifting of focus to statistics and probability is part of the government's effort to adapt the education curriculum to be more up-to-date with a fast-changing society.
“Nowadays, there are so many sources of information and issues that not only require retaining knowledge but also analyzing and processing what the students have received. Statistics and probability will help make students more aware and gain the ability to make better decisions,” said Ngo Hoang Long, a professor from Hanoi University of Education.
[Photo via Nguoi Lao Dong]
