Eminent Indian mathematician and physicist Alladi Ramakrishnan died at the age of 85 this week. Known for his innovative thinking and openness to new ideas, he created the Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Chennai inspired by Neils Bohr, who visited his family home there.

Coincidentally, in a study by World Bank economists (the results of which would certainly have won Ramakrishnan’s approval), India has been warned to bridge the gap in mathematical knowledge among its school goers or face a huge rich-poor divide based on math skills! The researchers tested 14 year old students in Rajasthan and Orissa to find that they were either very good or very bad in the subject. The performance was judged against benchmarks set in 51 other countries. Close to 17 million Indian students did not meet the lowest international benchmark of basic mathematical knowledge. This puts average Indian students among the worst scorers in mathematics. However, those who score well actually score exceptionally well — close to one lakh such students.

What are the reasons behind this sharp divide? Where are we failing? What can be done bridge this gap?