South Africa is in the midst of a crisis when it comes to education in mathematics and physical science, according to the findings of an independent study conducted over the past three years by the Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE).
“Both the public and the private sector are desperately short of people with higher-grade certificates in mathematics and physical science,” says Ann Bernstein, executive director of the CDE.
The report also touches on another fundamental problem in South African education: language.
“Mathematics is a language in itself. People who learn maths learn a new way of writing, a new way of thinking and a new way of reading. It is very difficult to learn a new language in a language that is not your mother tongue,” Dr Mamokgethi Setati, at the School for Education at the University of Witwatersrand, told the Mail & Guardian Online.
The nature of the crisis
The CDE report found that in 1991, 53Â 631 pupils enrolled for higher-grade maths. This fell to less than 36Â 000 by 2003. Only 4Â 637 black candidates matriculated with higher-grade maths in 2002.
The report says a fifth of all the secondary schools in the country do not offer standard-grade mathematics at all. Only half of all schools offer the subject at higher-grade level.
A third of all the schools that offer mathematics achieve pass rates of less than 20%.
There are also not enough new teachers to fill the spaces left by those who retire, and many teachers start working in the private sector, because of better pay.
The report recommends that the country needs better secondary education in mathematics and science. These subjects are the foundation for many jobs in society and are important for economic growth.
The dilemma of language
“It would make a great difference to the understanding of mathematics if this subject was taught in multiple languages and not only in English,” Setati says.
“There are many teachers who speak other languages besides English, and they should go round in the classroom and explain problems to students in these languages.”
“And then there are the exams. If an Afrikaans-speaking student does not understand the question in English or just misses the meaning of two English words, the pupil can go to the Afrikaans translation and have a better understanding of the question.
“Why are exams not also translated into Zulu, Sesotho or Tswana? We live in a multilingual society. There is news in 11 languages. Why can’t we have exams in 11 languages if this would mean an improvement of our education in mathematics and other subjects?
“I am not advocating that we should lose English. But other languages should be offered besides English.”
The CDE report acknowledges the problem of language: “[The] learners’ proficiency in the language of instruction and examination plays a very significant role in their performance in maths and science.”
The centre recommends that all maths and science activities be closely linked with improved language education.
“It will be most beneficial if the language involved is English,” says the report.
“What I found in my research is that pupils, teachers and parents do not want to learn mathematics in any other language than English,” says Setati . “They believe that if they learn a subject in their own language there will not be a job for them when they finish school.
“Nobody wants to hire a Zulu speaker who does not understand English, is the general understanding. But the point is that mathematics should be about mathematics, not about English.
“When it comes to teaching mathematics in multiple languages, we should also be realistic and realise the benefits of being fluent in English.”
The CDE also points to the fact that many terms used in teaching mathematics simply do not exist in indigenous languages.
Five years
The centre wants to double the number of students matriculating in mathematics and physical science in the next five years.
It makes different recommendations to ensure that this goal is achieved, though the subject of multilingual teaching is not mentioned.
“I do not believe in focusing on results,” said Setati. “The focus should be on the quality of teaching and not on how many students will pass in five years’ time.
“But if the CDE would lose their focus on teaching mathematics in English and would switch to teaching it in multiple languages, than they would get there faster.”
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