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The Minister of Basic Education, Mrs Angie Motshekga wishes the thousands of learners in Grades 4 to 7 who are participating in the South African Mathematics Challenge tomorrow good luck. A competition of this nature is critical to advance the country’s long term economic goals and nurture the young talent we have in the country.

The competition is co-ordinated by the South African Mathematics Foundation (SAMF) as well as the Association for Mathematics Education of South Africa (AMESA) and aims to breed a generation of learners who enjoy mathematics.

We commend the work done by these organisations in a bid to not only increase participation and enjoyment of mathematics but also to increase quality outcomes in this critical learning area.

The organisers released information that out of almost 108 000 learners that wrote the first round in May this year 10 817 learners from 416 schools across the country advanced to the final round.  In order to have advanced to the final round learners needed a result of more than 60% in the first paper. “This is a great achievement and I look forward monitoring the progress of the participants who are making us very proud as a country,” said Motshekga.

“What is also encouraging for us as the sector is that out of the 10 817 learners that will be writing the final round 49% are girls, this is critical in improving the participation of girl children in mathematics and building their confidence in the subject, but also in creating young women that can actively participate in the economy and the development of the country,” said Motshekga.

Learners’ achievements in the final round will be acknowledged by awarding Gold, Silver and Bronze certificates based on their results.  Last year a total of 3 929 certificates were issued of which 579 where Gold, 1 883 Silver and 1 467 Bronze.  The City of Tshwane had the highest number of certificates issued followed by Cape Town and East London.

We are proud of all the learners across the sector who are participating and wish them all good luck.