Government’s R1.1bn back-to-school boost

The government’s back-to-school plan for teachers is getting a R1.1-billion boost as it seeks a radical overhaul of the teaching of maths and science.

A World Economic Forum report has ranked South Africa last out of 143 countries in maths and science education.

Last year, only 35.1% of m at r i c s who wrote maths and 36.9% who wrote physical science scored above 40%.

Details outlined in the Department of Basic Education’s annual performance plan spell out international collaborations, including the recruitment of Cuban tutors to support maths, physical science and technology teachers.

It also suggests partnering with China to develop a strategy to increase participation in vocational and technical education, and to expose department specialists and co-ordinators from the provinces to the Chinese education system through visits to Chinese maths centres and community colleges.

On Friday, the Gauteng education department signed an agreement with officials from Ch i n a ’s Jiangsu province that paves the way for Chinese teachers to be trained in Gauteng.

Furthermore, 20 000 maths teachers would be writing selfdiagnostic tests to gauge their knowledge of the subject.

The new maths, science and technology conditional grant seeks to promote maths and physical science teaching and learning and to improve teachers’ content knowledge in these subjects.

Some R347.2-million has been set aside to provide — between now and March next year — information and technology equipment, tools, workshop and laboratory equipment, training for teachers and for the establishment of a national maths, science and technology directorate together with institutes in the provinces.

The initiative also includes what has become known as the 1+4 teacher development plan, which involves maths teachers from grades 7 to 9 missing school every Monday from this month to attend training workshops to improve classroom performance.

The department had embarked on the 1+4 plan because it needed to be “extremely radical” in order “to save our children”, it said.

But Bailey Nkuna, deputy president of the South African Association of Science and Technology Educators, shot down the department’s move to import Cuban and Chinese expertise.

“We have subject advisers who are assisting teachers,” he said. “Why didn’t the government take those people and develop them so that they know what is required of them?”

Vasuthavan Govender, president of the Association for Mathematics Education of South Africa, said one of the biggest challenges was gauging what was being taught in the classroom.

“You have all this knowledge and skills, but how do you take learning forward in the classroom?” he said. “How do you influence what happens in the classroom?”

Govender, a deputy chief education specialist for maths and physical science in Port Elizabeth, said there was a need to get more properly trained teachers coming out of universities.

“If you are teaching maths and your learners are performing poorly, the whole idea is for you to reflect and ask why they are doing badly.”

Basil Manuel, president of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa, was critical of the plan to test maths teachers.

“We have done nothing to develop them and now we want to test them? We’ve long been saying that, before you embark on a testing programme of anybody, you’ve first got to upgrade and train people.”

Department spokesman Elijah Mhlanga said it would continue to invest in maths, science and technology as a priority.

He said schools would be supplied with science equipment and apparatus, textbooks and workbooks, and workshops and laboratories would be built and refurbished.

China would invite groups of principals from secondary and primary schools on a study tour to China every year for the next five years, Mhlanga added.

“China will also provide scholarships for South Africans to attain teaching qualifications in different subject areas. All costs will be borne by China.”

Mhlanga said the department was still in negotiations with the Cuban ministry of education about the recruitment of Cuban tutors.

How the government plans to solve the maths problem

•  It wants to encourage pupils to study maths instead of maths literacy, and asked schools that didn’t offer maths to introduce it in Grade 10 this year;
•  It seeks to improve the quality of passes of girls studying maths and science;
•  It will rope in universities and industry to develop and support competent teachers through in-service training;
•  It will support Grade 9  pupils to improve results in this year’s Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study; and