Maths and physical science experts have expressed concern over the low or unrealistic targets set by some provinces for the number of matric pupils they expect will achieve 60% and above in these subjects.
Several provincial education departments this week indicated they were confident that more pupils would get top-quality passes in the two subjects this year.
Gauteng is expecting 19% of its total maths cohort to achieve a pass percentage of 60% and above, compared with its target of 15.5% last year. The province wants 22% of its physical science pupils to score 60% and above, compared with its target of 18.5% last year.
In 2022, 17.43% of maths pupils and 21.2% of physical science candidates in Gauteng achieved the 60% and above benchmark in their subjects.
The 2023 projections by some of the other provincial education departments for the percentage of candidates achieving a pass of 60% and above in maths and physical science include:
- Northern Cape: from 14% last year to 16% for maths and from 14% to 18% for physical science;
- Western Cape: from 27% last year to 29% for maths and from 32% to 35% for physical science;
- Eastern Cape: from 20% last year to 23% in maths and from 25% to 28% in physical science.
Last year provinces blamed the failure to achieve the targets set for the number of pupils achieving 60% and above in maths on several problems. These included teaching days lost to the pandemic, the high number of novice teachers teaching matrics and pupils’ poor foundational knowledge.
A total of 33,815 of the 269,734 maths pupils passed with 60% and above last year compared with 34,451 of the 259,143 learners in 2021.
There was an increase of 4,595 candidates achieving 60% and above in physical science last year, from 30,398 in 2021 to 34,993.
Gauteng education department spokesperson Steve Mabona said their maths and physical science targets were “moderate and achievable”.
“We are very confident they will be met considering how we prepared and supported our grade 12 school community.”
Eastern Cape education department spokesperson Mali Mtima said their projections were “low but realistic”. “The amount of effort we have put in to improve performance is enough to make the department believe we will achieve the targets.”
Last year it expected 20% of its maths candidates to achieve a pass of 60% and above, but only 8.5% did.
Such targets have the potential to decrease morale and enhance despondency among staff
— Prof Farai Nyabadza, University of Johannesburg
Western Cape education spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said challenges included “learning losses following Covid”.
“This may impact our achievement, but we are still working towards these estimated targets.”
Northern Cape education department spokesperson Geoffrey van der Merwe said their targets for this year are slightly higher than last year’s “due to the extended support provided to the 2023 cohort”.
Last year the province set a target of 16% of the total maths cohort achieving a pass of 60% and above but only 10.2% did. Officials blamed the drop on the high number of novice teachers teaching the subject.
Van der Merwe said that 27 of the 126 teachers teaching matric maths this year and 26 of the 111 teaching physical science were novices.
Prof Farai Nyabadza, head of the department of maths and applied maths at the University of Johannesburg, said while there was nothing wrong with setting goals, the targets set by some provinces “fall short on achievability”.
“The Western Cape, Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal set targets that are very realistic.
“Mpumalanga and Gauteng set their bars low and achieving them and surpassing them leaves them with no target to focus on.”
Mpumalanga projected that 11% of its maths pupils would achieve 60% and above last year, while Gauteng’s target was 15.5%.
Said Nyabadza: “For Mpumalanga, it would have been better to set a higher target, not a target that the province can easily achieve. For Gauteng, the target could have been higher.”
Nyabadza said the Eastern Cape and North West set unrealistic targets “given their achievements”.
“Such targets have the potential to decrease morale and enhance despondency among staff.”
He said pupils should be given real-world problems to solve to motivate them to interact with maths.
“This is critical in getting students to love the subject.”
Bridgette Simelane, a lecturer in the department of maths and applied maths at the University of Pretoria, said that in setting targets “everyone is allowed to dream”.
“However, we need to learn to be realistic, especially where maths is concerned. For example, the Eastern Cape targeted 20% of maths students to obtain a mark of 60% in their final exams but only 8.5% was the actual achievement.”
She said it set a target of 23% for maths this year, higher than last year’s target.
“What measures did they implement that informed the province to set a higher target while they could not achieve their goal last year?”
She said the targets could be achieved if “pragmatic interventions” were put in place such as appointing qualified maths teachers at primary school.
Prof Servaas van der Berg of Stellenbosch University said the number of candidates achieving a 60% pass in maths was still low and that such a mark was often the minimum required to enter many courses at universities.
“This is far too few to meet the skills demand of the South African economy.”
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