Maths and science maketh an economy
Acountry’s entire economy and growth revolve around different aspects of mathematics. We must be worried that our children continue to show dismal output for the key subjects of maths and science, particularly in the age of the fourth industrial revolution. We can ill-afford to have a generation of students and workers who can’t compete in these key subject areas.
The latest matric results showed that the physical science pass rate dropped from 75.5% in 2019 to 65.8% in 2020, while the number of candidates passing maths declined from 54.6% to 53.8%.
It is easy for the government to blame the decline on Covid-19 and its impact on teaching and learning, but the fact is that the system has struggled to achieve excellence in these key subjects, which the government calls gateway subjects.
The role of mathematics in national, regional and international developments has become more evident in contemporary societies. The system continues to engage in the blame game while our kids are falling behind.
Is it fair to blame the teachers when school boards and principals, and by extension the ministry of education, continue to employ individuals to teach mathematics who are qualified in areas other than maths education?
How effective are those teachers who lack the requisite training for content and methodology?
South Africa is on the wrong track and must own up to its failures to invest enough resources in equipping maths and science teachers.
Minister of Higher Education Blade Nzimande and President Cyril Ramaphosa have been at pains on the importance of pupils studying the “correct” subjects.
“As we review the matric results, one of the prominent indicators of quality is how the country is doing in these STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects,” Ramaphosa told teachers this week. “If we are to seize the opportunities of the fourth industrial revolution, our education system must be reoriented towards its development in our country.”
What the president fails to realise is that we are not producing a pipeline of pupils who will be able to successfully pursue these careers.
It is folly to think we can have a work force of the fourth industrial revolution when most schools are not centres of excellence in subjects that matter.
South Africa must accept that it will not achieve quality outcomes at matric level if it does not invest adequately in quality teaching and learning of mathematics at the foundation phase.
Mathematical knowledge is hierarchical in nature.
If one lacks the foundational knowledge and concepts, there is very little hope that this can be remedied at senior grades.
Many South Africans may not be aware that one of our cultural and spiritual trailblazers of our time, Chief Netshiavha Ntsandeni Samuel, who was the custodian of the only inland and sacred Lake Fundudzi in Venda, Limpopo, passed away. He was buried last weekend.
He was born on 28 August 1948. A forest scientist by profession, Chief Netshiavha was a nature conservationist who taught the tremendous importance of natural heritage to communities.
He was a man who strongly believed in sustainable development.
Any development that would threaten the lifespan of natural resources – in particular Lake Fundudzi – was taboo to him.
Lake Fundzidzi has always been of cultural significance for the Vhatavhatsindi clan within the Vhavenda nation who have been using it since 17th century after their arrival in Venda. Under the leadership of Vusidzhena, they migrated down south from the Lakes Region in Central Africa.
On their arrival, they settled at Tshiendeulu and later relocated to Khalavha. They then left behind a female chief at Khalavha; and relocated to Tshiavha, closer to the lake.
Declared a National Heritage Site by the South African Heritage Resources Agency in 2014 , the lake’s cultural significance is a result of its setting, rich history, associated with its living and sacred heritage, and of great scientific value.
The lake is focal to cultural ceremonies, traditions and rituals for the Netshiavha royal family, who perform all these on behalf of the whole Vhatavhatsindi clan within Vhavenda nation.
It is their “burial” place that is venerated because it is the home of their ancestral spirits.
The elements of living heritage that take place within and around the lake include an ancestral thanksgiving ceremony called Tshevhula and Tshiswavhathu, which is a cremation-like practice that is done many years after the death of any member of the royal family.
Subsequently, a distinctive cultural and natural environment remains untouched, unaltered and authentic.
In memory of the late chief, it is important to express our gratitude for the role he played in ensuring that the lake’s degradation remains minimal, something he fought for until his final days on earth.
It was his determination to preserve the lake that made him infamous with some people, which also saw his “High Place” Musanda, together with his valuable properties, set alight by unidentified persons.
Vhalale nga mulalo. Mutavhatsindi ra malowa, namana i bvaho dzivhani , wa Tshiavha tsha malowa ndila tsho no lowa na mufhiri wa Gondo. Musina ndevhe a tshi i vhona. Muvhumbe!
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