General aims of mathematics education

Mathematics education aims to:

• help students to develop a belief in the value of mathematics and its usefulness to them, to nurture confidence in their own mathematical ability, to foster a sense of personal achievement, and to encourage a continuing and creative interest in mathematics;
• develop in students the skills, concepts, understandings, and attitudes which will enable them to cope confidently with the mathematics of everyday life;
• help students to develop a variety of approaches to solving problems involving mathematics, and to develop the ability to think and reason logically;
• help students to achieve the mathematical and statistical literacy needed in a society which is technologically oriented and information rich;
• provide students with the mathematical tools, skills, understandings, and attitudes they will require in the world of work;
• provide a foundation for those students who may continue studies in mathematics or other learning areas where mathematical concepts are central;
• help to foster and develop mathematical talent.