In schools across Pakistan, students are forced to spend years studying advanced maths — from trigonometry and quadratic equations to complex formulas and theorems — without ever being told why. We are taught to solve for ‘x’ and crack problems that have no link to our actual lives. We spend years memorising formulas that are dumped from our memory the moment we leave school.
How many times has the Pythagorean Theorem helped you pay an electricity bill? Did matrices teach you how to avoid credit card scams? How often has trigonometry helped you pay rent or medical bills? Has solving an angle ever helped you file your taxes, pay your Zakat, or budget for groceries?
The harsh truth is: We are handed calculators in school but left empty-handed in real life. We can find the value of ‘x’ in 5 seconds, but we can’t figure out how to survive on a budget of Rs30,000 a month. We can plot graphs, but we don’t know how to read a loan agreement or protect ourselves from fraud. When it’s time to buy a car on installment, read a bank statement, compare mobile data packages, calculate monthly expenses, or figure out how much Zakat to pay — we’re blank.
Simply put, much of the Maths taught in schools is disconnected from the needs of daily life. We are creating a nation of anxious students who can solve for ‘x’, but not for their own lives.
What we really need is practical maths. We should be learning how to manage a budget, calculate Zakat, understand loans, read salary slips, file taxes correctly, avoid scams, assess discounts and markups while shopping, plan for retirement, understand insurance policies and build financial security with limited income. But instead, we’re buried under pointless algebra that creates anxiety, not confidence. Why is maths taught like punishment? The system needs a reset — enough with irrelevant formulas and robotic exams. Teach the kind of maths that helps us survive and thrive in a brutal economy.
Yumna Zahid Ali
Karachi
