When he was in Grade 9 in Johannesburg Greg Shapiro was branded a ‘non teachable, academic loser’ and was told to leave his Johannesburg school.

Now, this dynamic 53-year-old is teaching hundreds of children maths through his  K2U (Known to Unknown) system, which he has perfected over years after studying and developing his unique learning methods.

He has a staff of four who assist  students to understand the ‘language of Maths’ – classes are done at their offices on Pennsymons Street and even via WhatsApp, Skype and You Tube as Greg embraces modern technology to break the stigma that maths is an ‘arduous’ subject to grasp.

But how did Greg go from zero to hero?  “A young man got hold of me after I was expelled and gave me the skills and self-belief necessary to study maths and science.  I went back to school (not the same one that kicked me out!) implemented what I had learnt and aced maths and science – I came first in the school in matric !”

Greg is at pains to point out that he ‘is not a born genius’.  “It is all about understanding the language of maths.  You cannot apply something you do not even understand.  Just as one cannot learn Chinese unless one learns the vocabulary  – it the same with maths, unless you understand the terminology you cannot effectively use it.”

After school Greg continued to come up with what he says are ‘out-of-the-box methods’ to evolve the techniques he had learnt.  The years rolled by in Johannesburg until daughter, Kerri, attended a youth camp at Vulindlela Bush Camp outside Dundee and upon her return, persuaded dad and mum, Caryl, to settle in Dundee. That was six years ago. Greg says his passion for teaching maths is insatiable and gave an example of a recent Grade 10 Dundee High lad who, when he first arrived at K2U had ‘no algebra skills at all’.

“Four lessons later, he is up to 91%.  His experience in working with hundreds of students all over the country has led him to his belief that well over eighty percent of children have the ability to do maths – it’s just the unlocking of that potential that is the challenge.”  And that is what he has specialized in.

Greg believes that for a variety of reasons, most students fail to grasp the fundamentals in their foundation phase and simply get lost in the system.  The problem only exacerbates at high school level where the pace of teaching picks up and teachers’ workload prevents them from giving students the individual attention they need.

“We do not give extra maths lessons at K2U.  We teach the students how to understand, learn and apply the language and skills of maths.”  The system is CAPS aligned, which means students can immediately apply what they have learnt to their school syllabus.

Using his unique photographic recall techniques that includes mnemonics such as ‘Lorris, Borris and Morris (to learn the times table) to Mr O’Trig’O ( to master their Trigonometry)

he and his team help their students gain the fundamental skills they need to master their maths curriculum. All K2U students are thoroughly assessed and then placed on a course that will meet their personal requirements. ‘In the end our whole aim is to teach our students how to achieve a distinction’. Depending on the need of the student, courses could vary from one lesson to as many as 40.

“Teachers love it.  The students’ mark improve, they have more self-confidence, they are no longer scared of maths.”

Greg is planning to make maths even more fun with the holding of the ‘Clash of Maths Titans’ featuring 100 students from Dundee High, Sarel Cilliers, ML Sultan and Dundee Secondary who will do battle in a trigonometry competition.  The launch is at Talana Museum on July 4 and has the full backing of Mayor Thulani Mahaye and all the schools.  Pupils will be given three weeks to prepare for a final ‘exam showdown’ that will determine the winning school. A full write up with the results will be published in the courier.

Concluded Greg:  “There is a pervasive idea that maths is just about impossible to crack unless you are a genius.  I proved that wrong in my own life. We teach the language of maths, how to prepare for an exam and how to write an exam.  We give students  the ability to unlock their latent potential and enjoy the fruits of that – fruits that are in their exam results.”