Why maths papers Indians publish have so little impact

The exergy is an indicator combining both quality and quantity aspects and in this India fares badly. Even when we consider the quality factor only,our ranking in terms of the number of citations is very poor, said the articles author Gangan Prathap,director of National Institute of Science,Communication and Information Resources. We need more quality faculty,we need more schools of maths,and we need to re-orient our education to ensure that students dont shy away from basic sciences and maths.

Several academicians said they were not surprised by the not-so-encouraging picture. Most Indian mathematicians tend to do derivative work,that is they work in an area where the main body of work already exists, said a senior academician. The problems start right at the level of schooling where there is a huge dearth of teachers who can create an interest in the subject.

Avnita Bir,principal of R N Podar School in Santacruz,Mumbai,described the difference between what is taught at school in India and what is taught elsewhere. The Std X syllabus of the CBSE focuses on long calculations and doesnt give students much scope to think while solving a problem. Its more of a test of speed and how many questions one can solve within a given time limit, she said. In contrast,an international maths curriculum… focuses on problems where students are required to apply their mind while using the concepts and formulas they have learned. Its a test of ability and not speed.

There is a difference in the approach,too,she said. In the international syllabus,the teaching approach is quite basic,without making the curriculum seem rigorous. There is,on the other hand,a lot of rigour in the Indian curriculum.

Prof R Balasubramanian,director of the National Board for Higher Mathematics,said the problem is not with the syllabus. The maths curriculum in India is as good as that in any other country. The problem is that we dont have enough competent people to teach the subject across all levels from schools to the higher education sector, said Balasubramanian,also director of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences,Chennai.

Prof Vijay Singh,national coordinator of Science Olympiads from the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education,said Indian scientists are in the backwaters of maths and they unfortunately tend to get cited only if their work is exceptional.

Indians students,too,have fared poorly in international competitions such as PISA,the Programme for International Student Assessment that evaluates 15-year-olds,and the International Mathematical Olympiad. According to data from the HBCSE,teams representing India have won only two golds from 2002 to 2011 at the Olympiad.

We dont have enough good trainers for the Mathematical Olympiad. It needs a lot of volunteers to train the students and not many are willing to come forth, said the HBCSEs Prof B J Venkatachala.

The 3 dimensions

14th among 50 countries in terms of papers published (5,766); top ranker US has 74,874 papers

22nd in terms of citations for these papers (11,794); US has 366,539

29th in terms of exergy (24,124),a measure of the impact of these papers; US score is 1,794,359