Statement by André Gaum, Western Cape Education Minister

The Western Cape Education Department launched a Mathematics, Science and Technology Strategy today (Tuesday, 18 February 2003), to improve learner performance in these subjects across the board in the province.

Various studies have shown that learner performance in mathematics and science in South Africa falls well short of what we need to ensure sustainable development in this country.

The WCED and the national Department of Education have introduced a range of special interventions to improve learner performance, mainly in pilot projects.

While these interventions are achieving significant results, they are not enough.

I therefore asked the WCED last year to develop a comprehensive strategy, which integrates all the initiatives necessary to improve average learner performance in mathematics, science and technology in the Western Cape.

We launched the strategy document today at the Centre of Science and Technology (COSAT) in Khayelitsha.

Studies that have demonstrated poor learner performance in mathematics and science include the following:

• A study of Grade 3 learners in 100 schools by the Joint Education Trust, commissioned by the WCED, found in November 2001 that most learners could not handle simple arithmetic at a Grade 3 level. They experienced considerable difficulty with arithmetic at Grade 1 and 2 levels.

• The average mark of Grade 4 learners in the Western Cape in a numeracy test undertaken in February 2000 by the Monitoring Learning Achievement Project was only 37.9%. While this was higher than the national average of 30%, the result indicated that most learners did not have an adequate foundation in mathematics at this level.

• South African learners ranked last out of 39 countries that participated in the Third International Mathematics and Science Repeat Study (TIMSS-R) of Grade 8 learners in 1999.

• Only 59 candidates from former Department of Education and Training schools in the Western Cape wrote Higher Grade mathematics in the 2001 matric examinations, of whom only 28 passed. A total of 4 122 candidates from these schools wrote mathematics on the Standard Grade, of whom only 25.4% passed (1 048).

We have introduced various interventions that have achieved significant results, including our Learning Schools Project, for schools that achieved pass rates of less than 60% in the matric examinations.

Another key example is COSAT, which provides specialised training for selected learners from Khayelitsha schools. The centre also runs an outreach programmes to other Khayelitsha schools. COSAT is an initiative of the WCED.

The centre focuses in particular on helping candidates planning to write maths and science on the Higher Grade in the Senior Certificate exams.

All 31 learners at COSAT passed their Senior Certificate in 2002. Twenty-one candidates passed Mathematics on the Higher Grade, 23 passed Physical Science on the Higher Grade; 29 passed Biology on the Higher Grade, and all 31 passed Computer Studies on the Standard Grade.

We are also involved in other key strategies on both a national and provincial level to improve learner performance in maths and science.

These include the Dinaledi Project; the Thintana MST project; the Learning Schools Project; the new Cape Teaching Institute; the WCED’s Multigrade Rural Schools intervention; and the Khanya and eCurriculum projects, among others.

We are also preparing the ground for the Mathematics, Science and Technology Academy for gifted learners. We plan to enrol the first learners in the academy in 2004.

We will now integrate all these projects into our overall Maths, Science and Technology Strategy. The WCED will roll out the strategy from 2003 until 2008.

The plan includes specific goals and strategies for each learning phase – Foundation, Intermediate and Senior, as well as the Further Education and Training (FET) band.

The plan sets goals for learners in each phase. The main strategies for achieving these goals involve teacher development, developing teaching and learning support materials, and other resources, diagnostic testing of selected grades, and special projects.

Teacher development will focus in particular on training on the revised national curriculum. Teaching and learning resources will include special teachers’ guides, equipment and textbooks.

The department will work with higher education institutions to offer specialised courses. These will include courses for Advanced Certificates of Education (ACE).

Diagnostic testing on Grades 3, 6 and 9 will play a key role in identifying the nature and location of barriers to learning in the Foundation, Intermediate and Senior phases, to facilitate appropriate interventions. The tests will take place in all WCED schools in October in selected years during the six-year implementation period of the strategy.

We have set ourselves a daunting challenge, to improve maths and science results across the province. However, we cannot shrink from this task.

Our challenge is to liberate as many learners as possible, especially in our poorest communities, from their fear of maths, science and technology, and to provide them with the tools they need to build a brighter future for themselves and for us all.

Media inquiries:  André Gaum  082-550-3938.