SA is flunking out when it comes to teaching children the crucial subjects of maths and science - a failure that could have devastating long-term effects for the country's ICT sector, and its economy at large.
This is despite steps being taken by government and business to train teachers, bring technology to schools, and uplift the teaching profession in general.
These efforts were highlighted at a business breakfast hosted yesterday by Neotel, featuring a panel of education specialists, including Gauteng MEC for education Barbara Creecy, researcher Graeme Bloch, and lecturer Lynn Bowie.
Panellists presented their ideas, plans and projects regarding the development of maths and science in schools, but the sentiment from an on-the-ground attendee - grade eight and nine maths teacher Robyn Clark Rajab - bore witness to the lack of tangible results local schools have seen.
"Lots of good questions at the [maths and science development breakfast], but once again this will probably be where it stops."
Inhibiting education
Adrian Schofield, ICT industry veteran and manager of the Applied Research Unit at the Joburg Centre for Software Engineering, says it is frustrating to look at the long-term scenario in SA, where the country's economy will depend on a workforce comfortable with numbers and technology.
Schofield says the challenge is that, although "we hear a great deal about what action is being taken to improve the situation, we are not seeing that delivered on the ground".
He says, in the same breath that political leaders make political statements about improving teacher training and the development of maths and science in schools, the largest teachers' union is in conflict with them.
"[The South African Democratic Teachers' Union] is not putting the training of its members in front of their own interests - and they are certainly not putting the interests of the children first."
Schofield criticises the union for being "hands off". He says members demand more pay, but do not in turn demand of themselves that they be more productive. "They are holding education in SA back."
Bloch - Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection senior researcher - echoes the notion, saying "teachers don't need more money; they need to love their students more".
Schofield gives a dismal outlook on the back of SA's failure to enthuse teachers and uplift maths and science in schools, particularly at a primary level. "The lack of involvement now is going to leave us with a handicap and for 15, 25 years ahead. Once you miss the opportunity to give the skills to young people, it becomes harder to catch up in future. Adult education will never fill the gap left by the lack of primary school education."
Professional development
Clark Rajab teaches at Johannesburg's Sekolo sa Borokgo High School, a non-profit independent school, in Randburg, specialising in providing maths and science education to underprivileged learners.
She says not enough is being done in the line of professional development of teachers. "I would like to see a system implemented - something like in the medical profession - where you have to do a certain number of courses over a period of time to remain registered with the profession.
"So many teachers came in so many years ago, and there are not enough new teachers coming in. What is being done to keep up the standard of teaching for the older teachers? I have been to many CAPS [Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement] sessions and it is absolute rubbish. We get given a book, we get told to read it and then we get sent home. I can read, as well as anyone else. We need proper training by people who really care about it."
Physical plan
Bloch highlights the importance of maths and science, and says leaders need to ask what they can do by way of intervention to improve the quality of outcome around maths and science to produce a better quality workforce.
"There is no doubt we need to do a lot better in maths and science, whether we are looking at the Teacher Information Management System for an international standard, or our own indigenous annual assessment."
The bottom line, says Bloch, is SA's children are clearly not there. "Our kids can neither count, nor can they read properly."
He says SA needs a physical plan to tackle its education challenges. "Maths and science is not an abstract discussion." Government might have a plan up its sleeve, he says, "but it has yet to communicate one".
Bloch says SA should leverage the resources and experience that are actually in existence. "There are a lot of people doing great stuff - the Mathematics Centre, at the University of the Witwatersrand; Johannesburg's Sci-bono Discovery Centre; the Cape Town Science Centre; and Centre for the Advancement of Science and Mathematics Education, in KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State - for example. Let us draw on these."
Bloch says there is no doubt maths and science is needed in Africa. "We need maths and science in Africa, because of the Square Kilometre Array telescope, and because of [diseases like] HIV and malaria."
Lack of knowledge
Creecy yesterday outlined what she said were strides being made in the development of SA's schools. She says, of Gauteng's 2 300 public schools, the department has identified 1 200 as "underperforming" in that they are not meeting the pass rate set by the Presidency.
Creecy says, while there may not be a lack of teachers in Gauteng "because many teachers want to work here", the problem lies in teachers who do not have adequate knowledge of the curriculum.
She cites the recent Development Bank of Southern Africa Education Roadmap, which revealed SA's schools were only covering 60% of the curriculum each year. "Over the last four years, we have had on average 20 000 educators, half of which I would say are either maths, science or in the foundation phase languages."
There is a close relationship between teaching of language and maths and science, notes Creecy - and this, she says, exacerbates SA's poor maths and science performance. "The other problem kids have is that they don't have fluency in the language of instruction. It's not a maths problem; it is a cognitive language problem."
In addition, Creecy says many children do not choose to study further in maths and science, because they do not realise they are "gateway subjects".
NDP challenge
Neotel CEO Sunil Joshi says the realisation of government's 2030 National Development Plan - which aims to see SA increase the number of learners passing matric each year to 80% from the current 73.9%, and greater participation in tertiary education - will be a challenge.
He says while improvements were seen in 2012, "there is a vast population of schools that do not have teachers".
Joshi notes SA has a shortage of about 2 800 maths and about 2 500 science teachers, especially in schools that are government-funded and -led.
He says, from a telco's perspective, more than just connectivity must be looked at. "As a telecoms business, we are often asked to connect schools, and yes, connecting schools is easy to do by any telecommunications company, but the question is what do you do with it? Unless you have the relevant content that actually adds to the basic connectivity, then children in schools will only be playing games on the Internet and, dreadfully, even [watching] porn.
"The challenge we face is to enthuse teachers to learn ICT skills to be able to leverage the structured maths and science laboratory framework that can be imparted on learners."
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