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Suppose, a litre of cola costs US$3.15. If you buy one third of a litre of cola, how much would you pay?
The above may seem like a rather basic question. Something that you would perhaps expect the vast majority of adults to be able to answer? Particularly if they are allowed to use a calculator.
Unfortunately, the reality is that a large number of adults across the world struggle with even such basic financial tasks (the correct answer is US$1.05, by the way).
[...] In many other countries, the situation is even worse. Four in every ten adults in places like England, Canada, Spain and the US can't make this straightforward calculation – even when they had a calculator to hand. Similarly, less than half of adults in places like Chile, Turkey and South Korea can get the right answer.
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High number of adults unable to do basic mathematical tasks
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 16 2018, @02:04AM
That's because they focus entirely on rote memorization and teaching to the test. So no, it was not "required" to graduate; they simply had to pass enough of the tests and homework assignments. No understanding of anything is required. The same is true of the vast majority of colleges and universities. It is simply easier and cheaper to test for rote memorization, so that is what happens.