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TORONTO – Ontario teachers will be eligible for partial subsides for courses to upgrade their math skills in an effort to help improve student test results.

Education Minister Liz Sandals says the province will spend $4 million this year to help cover the costs of courses that will train people how to better teach math.

Sandals says teachers don’t need to have a degree in math, but many do need to learn how to become better at teaching it.

Test results from Ontario’s Education and Accountability Office show almost one in five Grade 6 students do not meet the provincial math standard, even after meeting the standard in Grade 3.

Only 57 per cent of Grade 6 students and 67 per cent of Grade 3 students met the provincial standard in math this year.

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However, Sandals says Ontario students are “actually doing reasonably well in math,” and the province is still one of the top jurisdictions in math in the world.