Maths and science are very important subjects and excelling in those subjects will open doors.

A+ Students, which is an extramural activity organisation, equips pupils from as early as the age of three with maths skills by using Japanese Soroban.

“We offer classes as an extramural activity at schools and preschools all over the country, as well as at our own centres,” said Hantie van Niekerk, director of Pan Pacific Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Association (Pama) South Africa.

Nearly 10 000 pupils go through the programme during which they are taught exceptional maths skills and compete in international competitions. Ziva Wolf and Jarav Maharaj from Ruimsig represented South Africa at the 15th Pama Global Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Competition in San Jose, California last year.

The programme uses Japanese Soroban, a type of counting frame or abacus sphere that works on a metric system.

“Japanese Soroban consists of one upper bead and four lower beads, which are mastered by its students from as young as three years old. The main purpose is to learn to use it for mental calculations,” Hantie told the News.

Every day, 300 teachers in nine provinces work hard to make sure the pupils enrolled in the programme become maths geniuses.

“I want to enable students to be introduced to the system, to have children going to school without worrying about basic maths. I want to widen their horizons, not only in maths but in all other subjects that require visual and photographic memory,” said Hantie.

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