Is it possible for a young person from Diepsloot, Crossroads, Alexandra, Ga-Rankuwa, Langa or Jane Furse to walk out of school with a bachelor’s pass that includes core maths?
Most people would shake their heads. In communities like these, overcrowded classrooms, underresourced schools and daily social pressures seem to set the limits of expectation long before learners sit for their final exams.
The statistics feed the doubt. Nationally, the number of learners taking core maths in grade 12 has dropped steadily, from 44% in 2014 to just 39% in 2023. At the same time, pass rates show a stubborn divide: in the wealthiest schools, more than 60% of learners achieve above 50% in maths, while in the poorest schools fewer than 20% reach that mark. Against this backdrop, the idea of township and rural learners excelling in maths looks implausible.
And yet, that is exactly what is happening. For more than 20 years, the Leap science and maths schools have been proving that context does not determine destiny. In Diepsloot and Crossroads, in Alexandra and Ga-Rankuwa, in Langa and Jane Furse, hundreds of learners every year tackle core maths and a science subject as compulsory parts of their curriculum. There is no option to take the easier maths literacy route. Expectations are set high — and the results have followed.
More than 3,300 learners have graduated from Leap schools since 2004, all of them taking core mathematics. The network has achieved a pass rate of more than 96%, with 76% of learners earning bachelor passes that allow them to enter university.
In 2023 Leap schools in Diepsloot and Crossroads achieved 100% matric pass rates, with 93% bachelor passes. These outcomes are not accidents. They are the product of a consistent, intentional model that blends academic rigour with something far less tangible but far more powerful: the rebuilding of self-belief.
At entry in grade 8, most Leap learners are three to four years behind in maths and read English at the level of a 10-year-old. Many live in single-parent homes and three-quarters have witnessed domestic violence. Yet by grade 12 they produce results that rival those of the best-resourced schools in the country. What shifts the needle is not only the hours of extra tuition but the daily disciplines of consciousness and community that unlock motivation from within.
Every Leap learner sits in daily “consciousness circles” — spaces of raw honesty where anger, fear, shame and hope are spoken aloud and held in peer groups. In these circles, young people learn to trust, to listen, and to face themselves.
This emotional grounding makes it possible to tackle the abstractions of maths with courage rather than avoidance. In parallel, maths festivals, peer teaching and playful competitions reframe the subject as collaborative discovery rather than solitary struggle. Together, these practices activate intrinsic motivation — the spark that makes academic mastery possible.
The question is whether we as a nation will finally back what works: models that combine academic excellence with consciousness, resilience and community
As Dr Mamphela Ramphele, patron of Leap, has said: “Leap proves that young people, given care and high expectations, can achieve excellence in the very subjects so many assume are beyond their reach.”
The story does not stop in the cities. In the Eastern Cape, the Leap Institute is working with rural schools such as Jumba Senior Secondary in Tabase Village.
Here, maths is placed at the centre of a whole-school turnaround strategy, supported by Eastern Cape leader Mteto Nyati, villagers themselves, and partners such as Reimagine SA — working one village at a time.
The Leap Institute has committed to extend this work into the Northern Cape, Western Cape and Limpopo in close collaboration with departments of education, ensuring that transformation is co-created with communities, not imposed on them.
What we learn from Diepsloot and Crossroads, from Alexandra and Ga-Rankuwa, from Langa and Jane Furse, is that South Africa’s maths crisis is not unsolvable.
The question is not whether children from these communities can succeed — they already are. The question is whether we as a nation will finally back what works: models that combine academic excellence with consciousness, resilience and community.
For maths, so often seen as a gatekeeper, is in fact a key — unlocking both opportunity and the self-liberation of young people who know their worth.
• Gilmour is the founder of the Leap Science and Maths Schools, and co-director, Leap Institute.
For opinion and analysis consideration, e-mail Opinions@timeslive.co.za
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