Numbers are Tom Shupikai’s passion and he wants to impart his love for mathematics to the country’s school children.
With this in mind, he and Bernard Muvhami founded Maths Our World, an organisation which assists school children to come to grips with mathematics.
Last Saturday, the organisation was involved in the provincial Mathematics Olympiad, organised annually by the Department of Education.
The Olympiad saw pupils from Grades Four to Nine taking on a tough examination to find out who was the best of the best in the province.
The competition started with the cluster rounds on August 8.
From there the top five students were chosen from each cluster to compete in the district round on August 15.
The top five from each district then went on to compete in the provincial round.
To make the provincial round extra-special, Shupikai approached Southern Spar Germiston (owned by Michael and Mark Gouveia).
“The Southern Spar very kindly sponsored gold medals for all 360 competitors, as well as trophies for the top three students in each grade,” Shupikai said.
“We are extremely grateful for this sponsorship.”
At the end of the provincial round, three Germiston pupils were on the list of those who will be representing Gauteng in the national Mathematics Olympiad.
Vimbai Mapurisa (Grade Nine), Oleen Juwawu (Grade Eight) and Jele Siyacebisa (Grade Eight) are all Germiston High School pupils.
The competitors at the Olympiads were split into two categories, those from GPLMS (Gauteng Primary Language and Mathematics Strategy) schools and those from non-GPLMS schools.
GPLMS has been introduced into a number of schools, in an effort to improve results.
“Other projects with which Maths Our World is currently involved are extra lessons for Grade Four and Eight students and an initiative with Spar head office, where we will train cashiers in basic mathematics, to ensure they are numerate enough to do their jobs effectively,” said Shupikai.
“We have placed a cashier trained by us at a local Spar to see if the project is viable and, so far, things are looking good and the cashier is doing very well.”
With regard to the students who are receiving lessons, Shupikai said that most of them are from underprivileged backgrounds and there is a great need for more pupils to have lessons.
“We appeal to local businesses and the community to help us by sponsoring the lessons for a child,” he said.
For more information about Maths Our World, or to sponsor a child, contact Shupikai on 078 267 7770.
