Academics are sceptical regarding a ministerial report that found all the country's universities are largely to blame for poor teaching of maths, physics and technology in schools, reports The Sunday Independent.
A task team appointed by basic education minister Angie Motshekga in February, has reportedly found that "inadequate pedagogical training" at universities is one of the leading reasons for "serious shortage of competent, qualified, mathematics, science and especially technology-subject teachers". Teaching qualifications are supposedly also viewed as inadequate, with all qualifications found to be "poor, with some worse than others".
Three maths-education professors from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) apparently responded to the education report to The Sunday Independent, saying the blanket-blame of universities obscures differences in programmes both within and across higher education institutions.
Jill Adler, Hamsa Venkat and Margot Berger are quoted as saying a "more nuanced approach" to these issues would have been helpful, as they agree that the problems exist and need to be addressed.
Josef de Beer, associate professor of science education at the University of Johannesburg, is also quoted by the newspaper as saying that to state that all teaching qualifications are poor, is a sweeping statement.
"I am curious to know what research methodology was followed. Was an in-depth audit, and interviews with lecturers and students done at all higher institutions? My concern is that unsubstantiated statements are made in the report."
The newspaper says that the Department of Basic Education did not respond to e-mailed questions and instead referred it to a statement Motshekga had already released on the task team's report.
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