Department of Basic Education claims provinces discourage pupils from doing maths

Basic Education Deputy Minister Reginah Mhaule.

Basic Education Deputy Minister Reginah Mhaule.

Published May 23, 2022

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Cape Town - The Department of Basic Education (DBE) says it seems the secret in producing the best matric results in mathematics of highly celebrated provinces like the Western Cape, Gauteng and Free State, was to encourage very few pupils to take the subject.

This as maths participation in Grade 12 nationally has been declining - from 2018 to 2021 the number of pupils taking the subject dropped from 45.6% to 36.8%.

The DBE revealed this during a briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education about their plans to improve performance and participation in mathematics, science and technology (MST) subjects.

“About 36.8% learners are doing maths and the rest, 63%, are choosing maths literacy which is not going to assist us grow our economy. This is a challenge that we are working on. Provinces with lowest participants are Northern Cape that declined from 28.2 to 21.1% followed by North West 31.3% to 23.%. It is worth noting that the Western Cape is the third province declining from 30.4% to 26.3%, then Gauteng from 37.2% to 31.2% and Free State 39.0% to 36.4%.

“These last three provinces are always celebrated as producing good and the best but their secret is to get as little as possible number of pupils taking maths and encourage many to take maths literacy. As we celebrate them we must understand this. Then we get provinces like the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal where more than half the learners do maths however they are now also copying these three celebrated provinces having less learners to take maths so that their pass can also be good,” the DBE’s David Hlabane said.

Hlabane said the vision of the National Development Plan (NDP) is that by 2030 they aimed to have 450 000 Grade 12 pupils who will have bachelor passes in mathematics and physical science.

Basic Education Deputy Minister Reginah Mhaule said: “We are trying that all provinces participate the same way in maths and science especially that our economy needs.”

DBE chief of teacher development Mataole Ramohapi said some of the interventions included that the department and Chinese Embassy conducted an online mathematics seminar for 40 participants.

Western Cape Education Department (WCED) spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said as the department they do not discourage mathematics participation.

“On the contrary, we have a whole mathematics strategy because we want to see improved participation and performance. We are actively advocating for learners.”

Hammond said the province has secured free access to the Siyavula Mathematics software and is advocating its utilisation in all schools.

“Other projects to enhance mathematics performance include a teacher mentorship programme and live broadcasting of lessons via the Telematic Schools Project. The WCED has recently launched a mathematics strategy for schools.”

According to ANC provincial education spokesperson Khalid Sayed, they have noted the trend in the declining numbers of pupils taking maths and physics as subjects.

“The number of learners writing and passing these two subjects in matric has been declining for the past few years. The revelations should be viewed in a serious light. We are calling on the DBE to institute an urgent investigation into the possibility of culling in these three provinces.

“This is a very incorrect practice and exposes shortsightedness and backward mentality. We will be taking this further in the legislature, we need to get to the bottom of the rot and bring up urgent intervention to save the learners' careers from being jeopardised any further by the WCED,” said Sayed.

Professor Kobus Maree, from the department of educational psychology at the University of Pretoria, said poor foundation, lack of resources and lack of teacher development were also contributors.

“Many learners are scared to take mathematics, incorrectly believing that maths is 'overly difficult'. Some teachers encourage learners to take maths literacy instead. Some may also hope that this action will help them attain better average marks in mathematics and maths literacy. It is well-known that the quality of teaching and learning in mathematics and physical sciences, especially received by learners in better-resourced environments and schools, is vastly better than the quality of teaching and learning that their disadvantaged counterparts receive.

“Private and more affluent schools can afford to lure the best-qualified teachers to their schools. This step, too, substantially bolsters their chance of achieving good outcomes in maths,” said Maree.

Cape Times