Formula align on character

[mathteacher]

I am a math teacher in a low-socio economic school where every child has a very basic laptop. We are trying to use libreoffice as our primary note taking software in class, the students still do their practice with pen and paper. The one thing I am struggling with in libreoffice is the ability to align multi-line formula at the equals sign. I know that the math documentation says the effect can be set up with a matrix, however I can’t seem to get that working well when the formula includes fractions, as the denominator also gets aligned to the left/right instead of the centre of a fraction. i.e.

matrix{
alignr{3+{2+3x} over 2} # {}={} # alignl{a} ##
alignr{x} # {}={} # alignl{{2a-8}over 3 }
}

Also, the syntax is quite complex for 9th graders to be able to copy out, while at the same time staying focussed on the math we are trying to teach.

Is there a reason that something like ‘&=’ hasn’t been implemented in libreoffice yet like latex or onenote? It would definitely be a killer feature as far a teaching math with libreoffice would be concerned.

Thanks

[RGB-es]

There is another (AFAIK, not documented) way to get left alignment: two double quotes at the beginning of a sentence. For right alignment, it is possible to “push” the object with spaces. Try this

matrix{ {3+{2+3x} over 2} # {}={} # ""{a} ## ~~~~~~~{x} # {}={} # {{2a-8} over 3 } } 

And yes, a better way to handle all this would be a killer feature