Mathematics is not simply about plugging numbers into a formula or puzzling over a geometry calculation. It teaches people a way of thinking and problem-solving that is relevant to fields as diverse as engineering and law.
So the fact that maths was taken as a subject by barely a third of the candidates who wrote the latest matric exams administered by the basic education department is deeply concerning. This was the biggest cohort since the advent of democracy to write the National Senior Certificate, yet only 34,243 full-time pupils scored 60% or more for maths, sharply down on the previous year’s figure of 44,636. The number of pupils in the class of 2025 who achieved a distinction for maths halved year on year, to just 4,897.
The government rightly regards the matric results in maths and physical science as key indicators of the education system. Its medium-term development plan consequently aims for about 79,000 pupils to achieve 60% or more for maths by 2029 — more than double the number attained last year.
The education department suggests in its technical report on the class of 2025 that the deterioration in maths performance may be due to unexpectedly more difficult exams, arguing that international assessments of grade 9 maths skills showed a gradual improvement in 2002-23.
Be that as it may, it does not change that far too few school leavers have the requisite maths skills to confidently embark on university degrees in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) disciplines and complete their studies in the minimum time.
South Africa needs graduates in these fields because they are equipped to pursue careers in industries that drive technological innovation and economic growth, but they are also more likely to find jobs than people who pursue humanities degrees.
The paucity of school leavers with strong maths skills has a profound impact on higher education. Universities will have to lower their entry requirements to meet their enrolment targets and provide extra support to students who didn’t make the grade. Weaker students who qualify for bursaries from the national student financial aid scheme are more likely to drop out or take longer to complete STEM degrees.
The challenges extend beyond STEM degrees. A marked increase in the number of matric students who achieve a bachelor’s-level pass in recent years has dramatically expanded the pool of young people who can apply for university-level study: with more applicants than places, students with poor maths grades are at a distinct disadvantage.
Basic education minister Siviwe Gwarube has been characteristically forthright in her assessment of the challenges confronting the school system, bluntly acknowledging that the throughput rate is far from satisfactory and that much more work is needed to ensure children acquire solid foundations in maths and literacy in the early years.
The department estimates the throughput rate, which measures the proportion of learners who complete school in the expected 12 years, at just 64.4% for the class of 2025. While it is a modest improvement on the previous year’s figure of 63%, it indicates persistently high numbers of dropouts and that potentially large numbers of learners are being held back in grades 10 and 11 to increase matric pass rates in grade 12. Gwarube’s warning to schools to stop discouraging learners from pursuing gateway subjects or shooing them out of grade 12 is welcome, but stamping out the practice will not be easy.
At the other end of the system, far too many children start school on the back foot. Only 42% of children aged four and five are developmentally “on track”, according to last year’s “Thrive By Five” report, and without effective intervention they will fall further behind each year. We cannot afford another generation of children who are denied career opportunities because they have not been equipped with the right skills. Gwarube’s candour is a good start, but she now needs to fix the problems she has so ably identified.
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