In an ongoing effort to address the quality of mathematic passes among matriculants, the Department of Basic Education has once again joined hands with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) through its Thuthuka Education Upliftment Fund (TEUF) and will support the Maths Development Camp in the country.
While most teenagers are sleeping under warm blankets during the cold winter months, SAICA engages about 200 learners per province in serious mathematics education camps. The best of teachers train learners and provide valuable support to tackle mathematics in all its ramifications.
These learners are selected based on their academic performance with a minimum of 60% in mathematics, science and accounting. Since the inception of maths development school camps in 2005, more than 100 students, who were part of these camps in previous years, started studying towards a BComm Accounting degree at various universities. Some of these past participants will be at the camps as mentors or role models, since they come from the same schools.
SAICA is concerned about the quality and the declining maths pass rate among South Africa’s matriculants, and also about the steady decline on a yearly basis of the number of pupils who take up core mathematics: most learners are opting for maths literacy.
Therefore SAICA has appealed for the commitment and involvement by learners, students, parents, teachers, school governing bodies and government to ensure that the country produces school leavers with high quality passes that make them eligible to study for key professions such as accounting, engineering, commerce and science.
According to Ms Gugu Makhanya, Project Director, transformation and Growth at SAICA, mathematics is a gateway to most of these professions.
“The camp consists of a five- to seven-day workshop. Facilitators are invited to help motivate the learners and develop key skills identified as underdeveloped in African learners: numeracy, literacy, study skills, examination techniques and other soft skills,” she said.
SAICA funds and manages the organisation of the camps with financial support from the provincial departments of education and South African Reserve Bank.
These provincially-run development camps represent an important component of the TEUF initiatives that target qualifying African and Coloured learners aspiring to become chartered accountants [CAs(SA)]. The objectives of the camps are to:
*Assist learners to obtain and enhance the skills required successfully to achieve a post-matric career and study in the direction of their choice. This includes numeracy, goal-setting, decision-making and career planning;
*Encourage learners to obtain better marks by improving their aptitude in core mathematics, science, accounting and English;
*Promote engineering, science, technology and specifically also chartered accountancy as careers of choice;
*Expose learners to the business world in a fun and educational manner;
*Introduce learners to simulated practices; and
*Afford learners an opportunity to interact with their peers, as well as members of training organisations and universities.
Makhanya added that “the camps are an excellent opportunity for learners to improve their academic performance in mathematics, science, accounting, and English, while also developing the softer skills that will support them in their tertiary education as well as their future careers. One of SAICA’s key strategic drivers is that of responsible leadership, and among others the camps will focus on that topic.”
Mpumalanga Cape leg of the Thuthuka Maths camp takes place at Hoërskool Ermelo from July 14 to 17.
Contact Godfrey Legwale on 011 621 6658, 082 449 7477 or email godfreyl@saica.co.za for more information.
