In this regard, it would be a false paradox with erroneous premises leading to a real contradiction: in France, the teaching of mathematics is a well-oiled war machine for training elites. The year 2022 has shown this again in a brilliant way with a Nobel Prize (in physics), the Fields medal and the presence of 36 French laboratories in the top 100 of the Shanghai international ranking (Paris-Saclay taking first place). And, on arrival, despite this excellence, our country “severely lacks hands, according to Stéphane Jaffard, researcher at the CNRS and organizer of the Assises of mathematics which are held at UNESCO from November 14 to 16. Nearly 18% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and 3.3 million salaried jobs are impacted by mathematics.” IT, R&D, electricity production, telecoms, health, but also finance, trade, construction, etc.
The French have a frustrated relationship with maths
All of these fields are experiencing strong growth and the risk of shortages threatens: “94% of doctors in mathematics find a job one year after obtaining their diploma”, underlines Christophe Besse, director of the National Institute of Mathematical Sciences and their CNRS interactions. It is therefore urgent, not to raise the level but to restore the taste for equations to pupils and students who are massively disinvesting in this discipline. “Most people have an upset relationship with her because they go through too formal a teaching when the playful and creative aspect must be emphasized”, pleads Hugo Duminil-Copin, the 2022 winner of the Fields medal. And to add: “However, mathematics provides essential skills in everyday life.” This Sunday, November 13, the Ministry of National Education also announced the return of “compulsory” mathematics education at the start of the 2023 school year for all high school students in the general stream from the first class, thus settling the one of the most controversial measures of the Blanquer reform.
Companies and universities do not talk to each other
Since everything is only arithmetic, to improve the situation, it is first necessary to increase the number of teacher-researcher positions which fell by 8% (especially in the field of fundamental mathematics) between 2000 and 2020 , even as demand within companies exploded: “We met a large number of bosses who say they cannot find the know-how”, assures Stéphane Jaffard. More teachers means more students trained, therefore more graduates.
Limited offer. 2 months for 1€ without commitment
But there is also another French particularity where the entrepreneurial world does not discuss enough with universities: difficult, as is commonly done in the United States, to forge partnerships between companies and laboratories; it is also difficult for the latter to find interlocutors at the academic level. Hence the idea that will be put forward during this Conference of setting up regional mathematics centers to create these links. It is above all up to the political power, often badly trained in research and science, to become aware of the problem. Excellence makes it shine, but the deficiency in the number of mathematicians in the world of work could well cause France to lose its ability to innovate.
Opinions
Analyse
Chronic
Chronic
Detours from France
