The missing ‘x’ in algebraic equations probably stands for Black and Latino students. So grave is the learning crisis in the United States of America that not only have lawsuits and bitter quarrels among parents ensued over racial and economic gaps in the mathematic achievements of children but it has also become a poll issue this electoral season. In some states in the US, nearly 4 in 5 poor children do not meet the standard of math that they should know at their level and while around a quarter of all students in the US take algebra in middle school, only 12% of Black and Latino eighth graders do so compared to 24% of all White pupils. Such learning gaps are not unique to the US. In Hungary, on an assessment of learning levels, children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds were 121 points lower than children from the most advantaged backgrounds. Bulgaria and Croatia fared equally poorly. In India, the latest Annual Status of Education Report found that 43% of students between 14 and 18 years of age could do a simple division problem. Nearly 43% of those enrolled in undergraduate courses too could not do simple division problems. Around 25% of them could also not read a Class II-level text in their regional language and 42% of them struggled with English. Read in consonance with data from Oxfam India which show children from the scheduled tribes have a participation rate of 12.7% in private primary schooling, followed by kids from the scheduled castes and other backward classes, these figures present a stark picture of discrimination. There is also the case of fewer girls in STEM subjects.

The reasons for these gaps are not difficult to find. In the US, the European Union and India, the paucity, shortcomings and biases of teachers play a huge part in creating these learning gaps. Reports show that while some educators in the US lack the training they need to help students who have fallen behind, others have inherent racial prejudices that lead them to have lower expectations of students from specific racial backgrounds or mark some papers more strictly. Similarly, in India, a study by the same trust that brings out the ASER found that Dalit and Adivasi children are more likely to be stringently punished or reprimanded for making mistakes in junior classes, leaving them forever afraid of certain subjects. Educators are not the only ones responsible of course. Across continents, children from impoverished backgrounds are expected to work either before or after school hours or both, leaving them tired for lessons or unable to catch up with their peers.

A nuanced understanding of privilege and deprivation will reveal that there is no such thing as pure merit. The privileged classes, unlike their poor cousins, use their social capital and economic resources to climb the proverbial ladder. Reservation, when it exists, sometimes does what financial assistance cannot — it provides a leg up. But this is by no means enough when the disadvantaged have to fight their way in every step of the system. Strikingly, under such conditions, subjects in the curriculum, be it Math or English or Science, can become barometers of the discrimination on the basis of race, class or gender.