When Poovan Chetty, a maths and science teacher from Nigel Secondary School, departed for a 10-week study visit to the United States, some of his learners were devastated.
They tried to console themselves by travelling to the Johannesburg International airport to bid their favourite teacher farewell.
Mr Chetty is not only a teacher, he is a mentor — an all-round nice guy, said Wesley Madai, one of Chettys fan-club members.
Madai and classmates Preshan Pillay and Leocken Roses descriptions of Chetty include very hardworking as well someone who goes through all the steps when he explains science.
Chetty was part of group of 39 South African maths and science teachers who attended a training programme in the US last year. The visit, which was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAid), was in support of the Department of Educations Dinaledi project.
The Dinaledi project is part of the departments National Strategy for Maths, Science and Technology, which entailed the establishment of 102 dedicated maths and science schools. The number of schools is set to increase.
These schools are tasked with boosting the number of learners who do science, as well as their performance in these gateway subjects.
Since the establishment of the Dinaledi schools in 2001, the USAid Teacher Support Programme has enabled 134 mathematics and physical science teachers to participate in programmes in the US.
Chettys selection for the programme is part of a growing list of accomplishments. He has just completed his Masters degree in science at the University of Johannesburg, with a dissertation that focused on the informal learning of science.
But, his biggest achievement must the love for science that he has instilled in his learners.
Alicestine Massiahs, who was in his class last year (he is not teaching science this year, only maths), says: He inspired us to do well. Mr Chetty changed my mind. I wanted to be an air hostess. Now I am thinking about a career in science. This is because he takes us on trips to show us how interesting science is.
Nokululeto Dunn agrees. I want to be a chemical engineer after we went on a trip where I had the opportunity to speak to a chemical engineer.
Chetty believes that science teaching at Nigel Secondary School has also benefited from the Dinaledi project — not least because he has been selected for the USAid project.
The schools was under-resourced, but now has computers, graphic computers and a lot of maths and science resources, said Chetty.
The schools other maths and science teachers have not yet benefited from additional training, but Chetty has been deployed by the Dinaledi project to present workshops in North West to teach science by using computers.
So what is the secret of being a great science teacher?
You must know your content very well and you must link the content to the environment and illustrate learning with practical examples. For instance, Nigel is a much polluted area and I can use this reality to explain to my learners how acid rain is affecting buildings, he says.
In addition, Chetty takes his learners to science shows to expose them to the application of the discipline.
His efforts, coupled with the resource injection from the Dinaledi project, have seen the number of learners, females in particular, increase every year.
This year the school has 37 matriculates. A total of 25 are doing maths and science, only five of them are boys.
But there are still many challenges.
A concern of Chettys is that the majority of the maths and science learners — up to 60% — are doing the subject on standard grade because they lack a proper foundation to tackle higher-grade maths and science.
In addition, the actual achievement of learners in the subjects has only increased marginally and averages about 60%.
We need to tackle maths and science in the intermediary phase. That is where the problem lies. The learners have a very weak foundation, says Chetty.
Making mathematics a life skill
Everyone can do mathematics, but not everyone chooses to do maths.
Mathematics is a language. If I dont speak the language, I wont understand the work.
Mathematics is the art of making mistakes. A bad mistake is one that I ignore. A good mistake is one that I correct.
Mathematics is therefore a life skill — I have to delve into every day to see how I can correct my mistakes.
Mathematics is a way of living. We use maths to buy clothes and calculate the interest rate.
Speak up! Speak to someone about a problem. If you dont solve it, the problem will remain and grow bigger.
Mathematics is everywhere around us; for instance we have two eyes, two hands and 10 fingers. You were born on a date that consists of numbers and the year in which you were born is rooted in a historical event. Maths is part of the universe. — Matt Matthyser
Matt Matthyser is a Johannesburg-based mathematics motivational speaker and educator