Chief scientist says school maths useless in the workplace

Australia's chief scientist has said school maths classes are setting students up for failure in the workplace.

Ian Chubb has claimed there is a "disconnect" between maths taught in school and maths used in jobs across the country.

He said central maths skills including basic calculations and using graphs were not applied properly in the workplace.

"As the global economy becomes increasingly dependent on technology, our national competitiveness will be underwritten by our real-world capability in mathematics and science," he said.

His comments came after a study, conducted by Prof Chubb's office with the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers and the Australian Industry Group, looked at how maths was used in industries varying from engineering to defence.

The report recommended the national curriculum helped schools teach how to transfer maths skills to the workplace.

However, an Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority spokesman said the teaching of maths was best left to individual schools, which could adapt methods to suit students.

He said high school students in years 9 and 10 could from this year choose to take Work Studies, which educated teenagers on skills needed in the workplace.