Call to scrap maths lit
|Published
Students of Kliptown Secondary School along with thousands of Matriculants from around the country write their first paper (English Paper 1 ) of the Matric 2015 exams on Monday. Picture: Timothy Bernard 26.10.2015 Students of Kliptown Secondary School along with thousands of Matriculants from around the country write their first paper (English Paper 1 ) of the Matric 2015 exams on Monday. Picture: Timothy Bernard 26.10.2015
Durban - AN Education expert has predicted an improvement in maths results for the class of 2015 and an uMlazi school principal has called for maths literacy to be “shut down”.
“In the next few years, KwaZulu-Natal will be in the top 3 in the country,” Dr Vimolan Mudaly, a senior mathematics lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, told the Daily News on Sunday.
He was speaking of pupils’ dislike for mathematics, with the trend at schools being that maths literacy is offered to pupils. The reason behind this, Mudaly said, was for schools to achieve a higher pass rate. He said most university degrees required some form of mathematics.
According to KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education spokesman Muzi Mahlambi, there would be 100 885 full-time and part-time pupils writing their second maths paper in the province on Monday.
He also said there would be 88 124 full-time and part-time pupils writing maths literacy. “This means that the province still has more learners taking pure maths,” he said.
uMlazi’s Velabahleke High School principal, Mbongeni Mtshali, said his school no longer offered maths literacy.
“It is not good for the child,” Mtshali said. The school has excluded the subject because it holds no points value when applying to university. “Maths literacy should be shut down,” he said.
He felt there needed to be a change in the perception of maths and that it is not “a monster”. The subject, he said, taught children critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
The principal had positive hopes for his pupils saying he expected them to do well in this year’s exams. “Some of our bright pupils have already come to me making pledges they will be getting distinctions in the subject,” Mtshali said.
Daily News
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