There are two main reasons individuals develop a dislike of Maths. The first is that they find it difficult and overwhelming. This is because they are taught to do calculations without a full explanation of why there are doing them. The second reason is they were badly taught.
Good maths teachers are less common than bad ones. There are a very good reasons for this Firstly people who are good at maths do not know why they are good. It comes naturally to certain brain types and many cannot appreciate why others don’t understand it. Secondly a maths degree gives the graduate many lucrative employment prospects including the financial, engineering and technology professions. Those mathematicians who do not go into one of these industries are grabbed by schools based on their qualifications alone. They are often not natural teachers despite knowing their subject very well.
Another reason I have identified that people can’t do maths is a lack of mathematical vocabulary. They often don’t even understand the question. Maths vocabulary should be taught alongside concept understanding and calculation mechanisms. Maths is defined as both an art and a science and could be taught in an artistic way. One famous artist was also a great mathematician known as Escher. The ability to recognise patterns and the skill of sequencing one step to another
My advice for anyone who is taking a maths exam and finds it difficult is to get hold of several and exam papers from the institute that sets the exam. Find a teacher /tutor who is empathetic and who will write out model answers in full to all the questions and then copy them out several times continually stopping when you don’t understand a bit. Check with a teacher at the stuck point to just explain that little bit. I went from a grade 5 CSE maths ( UK) to a grade A O Level (UK) in one year by doing this. Finally if you find maths overwhelming ditch the text book.
Peter.