Ukraine risks losing generation of engineers and programmers: how math shapes country's future

42% of Ukrainian secondary school students lack basic math skills, according to the international PISA education quality study.

The notion that math is irrelevant in real life or work is something almost everyone has heard, whether in jest or seriously. However, this tarnished reputation of the school subject poses severe risks for a country at war. It leads to financial illiteracy, susceptibility to propaganda, and a shortage of qualified personnel for the defense industry, IT, and other critical sectors.

What prevents Ukrainian students from mastering math? Why are textbooks alone insufficient? How can math illiteracy now affect the country's future later? LIGA.net investigates.

The math education gap in numbers

Kateryna Terletska, a doctor of physical and mathematical sciences, warns that if Ukraine continues to neglect math, it risks losing an entire generation of engineers, programmers, and scientists. "That means losing the people who will work on advanced technologies: creating cutting-edge defense systems, developing the rocket industry, designing drones, and advancing artificial intelligence for data analysis and process automation," she tells LIGA.net.