Mathematics
Mathematics carries 30 marks in KARTET Paper 1. It samples content up to Class 5 - place value, operations, fractions, decimals, measurement, geometry, patterns and data - and tests pedagogy: how children build concepts and where they go wrong.
Core areas
- Place value and operations: regrouping, estimation, and the relationship between addition and subtraction.
- Fractions: part–whole, equivalence, comparison, and finding a fraction of a quantity.
- Geometry and measurement: perimeter versus area, units, and properties of shapes.
- Pedagogy: concrete → representational → abstract; error analysis; problem-solving before drill.
Worked example: A shopkeeper has 320 pens. He sells 3/8 on Monday and 1/4 of the remaining pens on Tuesday. How many are left? Reasoning: first find 3/8 of 320 = 120, so 200 remain. Tuesday's 1/4 applies to the remainder, not the original 320: 1/4 of 200 = 50. Left = 200 − 50 = 150. The second fraction changes its whole; that is the key idea.
Traps: applying 1/4 to 320; adding fractions of different wholes; confusing perimeter and area; teaching the rule before the meaning of the fraction.