Meeting the maths challenge

Maths was never my strong point. But I recognised its importance and thankfully was blessed with great teachers, which meant I was able to comfortably pass maths in my final matric year.

Not so for the majority of South African learners, and especially those living in rural backwaters in the Eastern Cape. The province’s dismal maths results speak for themselves.

The national 2014 matric results for mathematics, mathematics literacy and physical science were worse than in 2013, and those results were even worse in our province, which has traditionally always trailed the rest of the country. In fact, we are bottom of the class on a global scale.

Ouch! I cry.

Opportunity! cried Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU).

Yes, here’s an opportunity for the university to apply its research and give back to the society it serves.

So enter the Govan Mbeki Maths Development Unit (GMMDU) and a group of committed mathematicians who are determined to become part of the solution. They’ve been rolling out various initiatives aimed at both teachers and learners throughout our province for several years but are now able to seriously able to extend their efforts thanks to a R3.6-m donation from Old Mutual.

Seeking solutations ... Old Mutual's Nceba Papuma and Marshall Rapiya,
 and NMMU's Prof Werner Olivier and Prof Andrew Leitch 

As a result, 18 rural high schools in the Bhisho area will receive a maths and science boost in the form of an extensive offline programme that is aligned to the national curriculum.

The two-year project using tablets and other technological aids is being run in collaboration with the province’s Department of Basic Education.

And that’s another big plus about this Maths and Science Development Project – it’s not about one group working in isolation but about various players coming together to seek solutions. It’s about each one playing its part and working together to ensure that two plus two does not make five, but that it all makes sense.

Personally, this is the kind of research I enjoy best – real research offering real solutions.

About 2 500 learners from grades 10 to 12 will be assisted in this project – a drop in the ocean, but a start nonetheless.

The initiative recognises the education challenges that South Africa faces – under-resourced schools, teachers who lack the relevant maths and science skills and a lack of access to information. It’s a technology-based approach (this, after all, is the screenager generation) that offers lessons, science laboratory videos, old exam papers and self-tests. With each project that the GMMDU rolls out it makes improvements in its bid to better harness the potential of learners and ensure that their maths and science marks improve.

And while the learners are learning, NMMU will be learning too since it has a PhD project on the go examining the use of tablets and their impacts in terms of the expectations of modern learners.

Surely this is a win-win situation?

The proof will come with time - with the matric results.