And that’s why I’ve been practicing my long division. Via email;

I am a university graduate with a bachelors of science in mathematics, and I am currently pursuing graduate studies. I do a lot of marking, tutoring and lecturing in the mathematical sciences so the following issue is something I care a lot about and have first hand experience with.
The current state of high school math education in the western Canadian provinces is deplorable. The standard algorithms used to add, subtract, multiply and divide have been replaced with a holistic approach that puts an emphasis on discovering one’s own understanding of math in order to solve problems.
While this idea may be a great idea for the already gifted and bright students, for the general populace this is absolutely useless.
Coupled with the poor level of teacher training, we have a grade school math education system that is categorically failing kids and parents.
The sad thing is that this is mostly a policy problem. Curricula are being revised in order to stop parental bitching. They remove all the difficult parts about math. Most importantly they remove the part where you are forced to follow instructions (gasp!) or be wrong and have your feelings hurt.
Because they learn in only this way, they come to university completely unprepared and ignorant of the skills needed to learn even basic calculus (ie. the backbone of engineering and physics) or computer science (ie. the backbone of modern society).
It has gotten to the point where certain western professors of mathematics are speaking out about this problem to the media. Parents and educators alike are finding frustration with the current curriculum. One professor has “gone public” with his thoughts on the issue, as highlighted in this CBC article.
This same professor, along with a number of our colleagues, has begun an campaign to try to call attention to this problem. Below my message is a forwarded email linking to their website. It includes a mission statement and a petition for people to sign. This has attracted the attention of professors across all western universities as this problem is prevalent from BC to Manitoba (except it might not be as bad in Alberta).
In a century where basic and advanced math skills are becoming increasingly important to both finding and keeping a job, we cannot ignore this problem. It will put western children at a competitive disadvantage compared to the rest of Canada, and the rest of the world.
As you can see there is already some coverage of this problem, but my concern is that the CBC will see this as just some “western problem” and shuffle it aside as some daily interest story and move on to more politically lucrative ventures. On the other hand, your readers are closely connected to western issues, and I believe that they care about things like math education and keeping our students nationally and globally competitive.
This issue NEEDS attention, kids are dumb…but they don’t have to be.

You can read more here:Western Initiative for Strengthening Education in Math, or WISE Math.
(John Gormley LIve is also covering the topic this morning at 11am Saskatchewan time)

h/t Lev

A most interesting article appeared in the Vancouver Province on the weekend. It opens as follows:

This booming town is busting at the seams, unable to keep up with the constant influx of workers who need a place to sleep, eat and spend their sizable disposable income.
Packed restaurants, full hotels, empty store shelves and shiny new trucks are the hallmarks of this northeast B.C town that is reaping the benefits of a booming oil-and-gas industry.
In a time when many British Columbians can’t find work, Dawson Creek business owners struggle every day to find staff.

A section later on caught my attention:

Dawson Creek’s mayor, Mike Bernier, in Vancouver recently for a conference, handed out business cards to Occupy Vancouver protesters, promising them he would find them jobs in Dawson Creek, provided they are hard workers.
“We have basically zero unemployment in Dawson Creek – it’s the lowest in the province,” Bernier said.
While the protesters he talked to said they wouldn’t take him up on his offer, he still encourages others to move to the city.