Green light for controversial maths plan

THE DEPARTMENT of Basic Education is forging ahead with its criticised 1+4 plan for maths teachers, with implementation scheduled to start next month.

The plan involves removing Grade 8 and 9 teachers from their classes for one day a week, expected to be Mondays, for training while on the remaining four days they will teach the content they have been trained on.

Each Monday they will meet at a nearby school and write a test to assess their knowledge of the section of the curriculum to be covered. At the end of the day’s training they will write another test to assess how well they grasped the content, and teachers scoring 80 percent or less will receive further support.

“We need to be extremely radical and do the out of the normal in our determination to save our children,” the department said in a statement.

Basil Manuel, president of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA, said the plan “doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of working”.

Jessica Shelver, spokeswoman for Education MEC Debbie Schäfer, said the Western Cape Education Department had adapted the 1+ 4 model.

“Teachers will not be taken out of class every Monday but will, over the next three years, receive the same number of hours training as the 1 + 4 model. This training will take place during term time for selected teachers who will be replaced by other teachers, on Saturday and during holidays.” – Ilse Fredericks