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Solidarity Helping Hand today unveiled a bursary fund totalling R250 000 in aid of mathematics teaching.
 
This comes after recent media reports that 96% of Grade 9’s in the country achieved 50% or less in a national mathematics benchmarking test.
 
“The results of this national assessment are very worrying and once again show the crisis that exists in South Africa’s maths education,” says Dr Danie Brink, Executive Director of Helping Hand. “This crisis can on the one hand be attributed to an acute shortage of good maths teachers and, on the other hand, to a severe lack of subject knowledge among maths teachers.”
 
According to Brink, the shortage of maths teachers currently outweighs the supply of maths teachers produced by tertiary institutions. According to an analysis by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), between 18 000 and 22 000 teachers leave the teaching professional annually. It is therefore worrying that South Africa’s higher education institutions produce only between 6 000 and 10 000 new teachers every year.
 
Research by the Department of Basic Education shows there is a shortage of 4 890 maths teachers and 4 552 mathematical literacy teachers nationally. This shortage is more acute in non-urban areas owing to several reasons.
 
Apart from the immediate shortage of maths teachers, it seems that the maths subject knowledge and teaching skills of teachers are often lacking, says Brink. “SAQMEC-III shows that many of South African’s maths teachers have a below-average level of subject knowledge in maths. According to the abovementioned studies, a significant percentage of maths teachers who were tested could not even answer questions aimed at their Grade 6 pupils. It is estimated that only between 32% and 42% of South Africa’s maths teachers have an acceptable level of maths subject knowledge.”
 
Brink says that Helping Hand wants to make a positive contribution by providing financial assistance for tertiary studies in Afrikaans maths teaching. “We believe that this financial support will ensure that many children receive first-rate maths tuition in Afrikaans while also helping to resolve the education crisis in the country.”
 
Helping Hand’s Society for Afrikaans Mathematics Teachers (VAW) provides support to Afrikaans-speaking mathematics teachers through conferences, short courses, regular newsletters, mathematical tools and an exclusive website throughout the year. More than 1 000 Afrikaans-speaking maths teachers will participate in activities of the VAW during 2014 and the society will consequently have an impact on more than 150 000 children.