If you know what any of this means, your teachers are off the hook.

In breaking news...it turns out high school maths and science is actually quite important in real life.

In fact, according to Australian Nobel Prize winner for physics, Brian Schmidt, Australia is at risk of a big economic flunk unless it is able to produce more students proficient in maths and science.

Particularly threatened, Professor Schmidt said at the Maths for the Future Forum in Canberra last night, was the mining boom, as its ever-increasing need for highly trained engineers continued to dramatically outweigh our education system’s ability to produce them.

"Too many kids who are willing and able to excel at maths are taught by teachers without the competency required to teach the subjects they are teaching.

"That's not the teachers' fault - it's the system's fault. Solving the skills shortage has to be our highest priority."

Professor Schmidt called for a "strategic science and education policy", to ensure numeracy standards for all students were raised and high-achieving pupils encouraged to pursue maths at university.

"By not working on education, we are literally going to kill the goose that's laying the golden egg, because the mining industry needs more skilled people to continue to grow," he said.

"I think the future for Australia is bright, but it's certainly not guaranteed."

Julia Gillard last month vowed to lift educational standards after OECD figures showed Australia was losing the education race to its Asian competitors.