For the past decade or so, hundreds of high schools in the country reported many matriculants have either not participated in physical sciences and pure mathematics examinations or have achieved undesirable low percentages. In some extreme cases, maths and sciences are phased out of schools entirely.
Awqaf SA Project Manager Hasanain Abdullah said this is very concerning as it speaks to “the state of disaster” of the level of education in the country. It is also concerning as these subjects are necessary requirements to produce skilled and essential personnel.
“Mathematics has a direct impact on South Africa’s economic growth. For us to achieve this excellence and for us to produce more doctors and scientists that can help some of our energy problems and our health problems, we need to produce excellence in grade 12 mathematics.”
Awqaf SA and Associates Addressing the Education Challenges
Awqaf SA, in association with ISkill and K-way Institute, will host an annual online workshop this weekend to prepare and assist high school learners with their upcoming maths examinations. The intervention aims to improve learners’ literacy skills so that they may perform and achieve scores which will propel them to better future opportunities.
“There was a report that was done by the Department of Basic Education, and they found that 77 of these grade 12 Learners, most of them scored under 50. This is something that is very concerning because we need to produce [learners who are] excellent in mathematics.”
According to their website, the focus will be on pure maths papers one and two for grades 10 to grade 12. The online workshop is free and open to all, as long as due process is followed. Learners can access and refer back to lessons as Awqaf’s online platforms will save the live streams.
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Thousands of Students Have Shown Improvement and Benefitted from the Workshops
Before the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, the workshops were held in person across various provinces nationwide. This led to moving and adapting the seminars into the online space. Abdullah said that since then, the initiative has only gone from strength to strength, with last year’s workshop being the most successful.
Awqaf SA launched the initiative in 2016, and approximately 10,000 learners have benefitted from the lessons. Last year’s workshop saw roughly 13,000 registrations of learners seeking additional assistance.
“The beauty of hosting a workshop via YouTube or the online platform is that learners can refer back to these sessions. They are interactive, and they are fun. The participants can pose questions, and there’s a great energy and a vibe that takes place during these sessions.”
