Johannesburg | Tuesday
LAST year only 0,6% of black pupils who registered for the national Senior Certificate examination passed mathematics on the Higher Grade, Deputy Education Minister Mosibudi Mangena said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the launch of the Alexander Forbes Risk Services Mathematics and Science Centre at Wynberg in Johannesburg, Mangena said that judging by the statistics the situation was serious among black learners.
”In 2001 the national percentage enrolment for African children in mathematics represented about 42% of all learners who registered for the Senior Certificate examinations.
”But only three percent enrolled for Higher Grade mathematics and a mere 0.6 percent or 2761 African learners managed to pass mathematics on the Higher Grade.”
Mangena said the enrolment and performance in mathematics fell far below the acceptable level.
”I believe we are all aware that a large number of learners in our secondary schools either do not bother to take mathematics or, if they do so, they sit through these classes without getting anything out of them.”
Mangena said local and international studies indicated that the problems actually start in the primary schools.
”Therefore even though we can criticise or even try to coerce the teachers and learners to improve the results in matric, we are unlikely to make any meaningful and sustainable progress unless we address the learning deficiencies in the lower classes.”
He commended the Alexander Forbes Centre, saying the type of computer-driven mathematics and science learning programmes that were to be provided by the centre were a crucial part of the attempts to improve the quality of education provision in the country.
”I understand the computer programmes provided are capable of enabling the users to go back up to the level where they are able to understand the basic concepts that are necessary for the mastery of the more difficult ones in the upper classes.
”In this way they are then assisted to derive maximum benefits from the efforts that we are putting in place to help them to achieve better results in matric,” Mangena said. – Sapa