Education
SA needs change
to achieve better maths results
South Africa is still not addressing the root causes behind the decline in the number of learners taking mathematics or the decline in the pass rate of those who do choose the subject. Less than 30% of all matric students take maths and only half of them pass their exams. Professor Rashied Small, South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA) Executive: Centre of Future Excellence, says the decline in both the number of learners and their performance can be attributed to the shortage of qualified mathematics teachers and consequently the teaching methodology.
Impact on career choices
“The decision not to take maths influences your career path. It is not only for accountancy that you need maths to gain university entrance. Almost every career path requires you to have mathematics in matric. Students are excluded from certain careers mainly because of their choice not to take maths,” says Small. Schools appear to be “encouraging” learners who are struggling with maths to switch to math literacy in Grade 10. This is because they fear ending on the low pass rate list of the Department of Basic Education. The result, for example, is that in a school with 100 matric learners only 12 are taking pure maths, says Faith Ngwenya, Technical and Standards Executive at SAIPA. SAIPA has been running an accounting, maths and maths literacy support project for Grade 12 learners since 2017 and has seen a drop in the number of learners over the years. Ngwenya agrees with Small on the lack of qualified maths teachers. Those who do teach the subject are not comfortable doing it. They teach learners the solution which they cannot explain themselves.
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