Cape Town - Following a recent Cape Argus article on the phasing out of maths and physical sciences in schools challenged with a low uptake, the Seed Centre has called for serious action from the government and citizens to mitigate this.
The newly-established centre focuses on maths, accounting and physical sciences for learners in Grades 10-12, offering in-person or online sessions for individuals and groups.
Launched in June 2022, the Seed Centre has however been operating since April 2021.
“We believe that a lot of focus, funds and effort is placed on ‘life after school’, however the underlying question is can the current state of education produce candidates who will stand the pressure of life after high school?
“The high turnover ratio of learners shying away from maths, accounting and physical sciences signals a need for change,” said founder Emmanuel Bhengu.
Bhengu said there was a stereotype that maths and physical sciences are exclusively for “intelligent learners” and that they are difficult subjects.
This year alone, 556 Grade 10 learners, 5 601 Grade 11 learners, and 3 373 Grade 12 learners switched from maths to maths literacy.
“Learners who find concepts difficult to understand at basic level find it difficult to cope with the subjects as they progress through the learning journey, which is evident on the switch, where learners look for subjects that require minimal thinking,” Bhengu said.
Schools may not be encouraging the uptake of these subjects to steer away from decreasing the overall pass rate.
“Learners are not supported properly or there isn’t additional support. Once the class is over, learning is over and no one is available to lead and guide them, other than the teacher,” Bhengu said.
The centre has called on unemployed graduates to assist with tutoring sessions to further address the unemployment gap.
In April, the Western Cape Education Department launched its Mathematics Strengthening Strategy: 2022-2027.
Education MEC David Maynier said the objectives of the strategy are to enhance the quality of maths teaching in all schools; improve maths learning for all students; improve the quality of passes in the school subjects; and increase the number of students taking and passing maths in Grades 10 to 12.