Rethinking maths choices for a better future in education

Some form of mathematics is compulsory for all secondary school students in South Africa. By Grade 10, learners must choose between two forms: Mathematics (core “maths”) or Mathematical Literacy (“maths lit”).

This choice is relatively new. When I was subjected to Christian National Education in the Transvaal Education Department (schooling for whites only in today’s Gauteng and Limpopo), I could choose home economics, typing or mathematics. And mathematics was offered at three levels:

• Higher grade (needed for university entrance)
• Standard grade (less demanding, but excluding science, technology, engineering and mathematics pathways)
• Lower grade (more applied, numeracy focused)

My black African colleagues in Department of Education and Training schools did not have this choice. Segregated education limited opportunities. Many homeland schools stopped at Grade 9 altogether. Dr Hendrik Verwoerd, then Minister of Native Affairs, famously claimed that mathematics was not appropriate for the Bantu child, who was destined to “be a drawer of water or hewer of wood”. 

This history matters. It shapes today’s aspirations. South African parents’ determination to resist an inferior education, and their hopes for their children to have a better life, are a national asset. It is within this context that the fierce debates about mathematics versus maths literacy play out. It is clear that we all want a future where more young people (especially black learners from no-fee schools) take mathematics in matric and pass it. 

As a professor of mathematics education, I often hear from worried parents or citizens:

• “All children should take mathematics. Maths literacy is nonsense.”
• “Scrap maths literacy — it’s a waste of time!”
• “Teachers are pushing my child into maths lit instead of teaching them maths.”
• “At the subject choice meeting, the school discouraged maths — they said maths lit earns you more points for university!”

I also follow research on our maths performance closely. Recently, I came across work by Dr Stephen Taylor, head of research in the Department of Basic Education. His findings challenged my assumptions about maths participation, and shifted how I think about this subject choice.

What the data says

Dr Taylor analysed the entire matric cohort writing the National Senior Certificate, grouping learners into four categories:

• Took maths wisely: Took mathematics and passed (≥30%).
• Overly ambitious: Took mathematics but failed (<30%). They should have taken maths lit.
• Overly cautious: Took maths lit and achieved ≥65%. They could have taken mathematics.
• Took maths lit wisely: Took maths lit and scored <65%. They would have been unlikely to pass mathematics.

The troubling part: each year, about 110,000 learners take mathematics and fail it. Another 50,000 learners take maths lit when they may have succeeded in mathematics. So, in total, roughly 160,000 learners per year make the wrong subject choice. The good news is that this number has been declining (from about 200,000 in 2008). But the numbers remain very concerning.

Why I was wrong

Initially, I believed the solution was simple: get more children into mathematics. I saw mathematics as a human activity, believed in children’s innate abilities, and felt strongly about redress. Surely more mathematics participation was always better? But Dr Taylor’s data shows it isn’t that straightforward. My view was shaped by the world closest to me: affluent, fee-paying suburban schools (quintile 5 and independent schools). In such schools, I noticed too many learners being steered into maths lit, perhaps overly cautiously.

My colleagues Dr Brian Ramadiro and Dr Kim Porteus at the Nelson Mandela Institute, call this the “problem behind the problem”: the people who get into positions of influence (such as myself) assume their own experiences (and their children’s) are typical. In reality, most South African schools are African-language dominant, no fee, overcrowded and rural. Privileged schools like mine (and my children’s) are the exception.

When Dr Taylor analysed the data by school quintile, the picture became clearer:

Compare the size of the red blocks to the size of the pink blocks in each bar.

• In quintiles 1 to 4 (mostly mainstream, no-fee schools), the red block is bigger than the pink block. So, the bigger problem is learners being overly ambitious: too many take mathematics and fail.
• In quintile 5 (privileged schools), the opposite happens: the red block is smaller than the pink block. In these schools too many learners are overly cautious, opting for maths lit when they could pass maths.

Nationwide, about 50,000 learners take maths lit who could probably pass mathematics — and almost a third of them are in privileged schools. My hunch was right, but only for a small, privileged slice of the system.

Advice for schools

Schools should regularly reflect on their subject-choice guidance. Look at your matric results and track:

• Mathematics participation: What proportion of learners take maths?
• Mathematics failures: How many fail, below 30%?
• Mathematics passes: How many pass, above 30%, 50%, 60%?
• Maths lit quality passes: How many score above 60% or get distinctions?

Learners who fail mathematics should have taken maths lit. Leaners who achieve strong results in maths lit, should have taken mathematics.

• Don’t chase higher maths participation for its own sake.
• Allow learners to keep doing mathematics for as long as possible, but by Grade 9 a consistent score under 30% — or under 40% by the end of Grade 10 — suggests a switch to maths lit.
• Focus interventions earlier: in primary and lower secondary school (Grades 7 to 9). Weak foundations cannot be fixed in matric.

Advice for parents

A quality mathematics pass at matric begins at conception.

• In pregnancy: Avoid alcohol and smoking. Ensure good nutrition, especially in the first 1,000 days (conception to age two).
• In early childhood: Find the best ECD opportunities you can. Talk and read to your child often, in your home language. Encourage another caring adult to speak and read to them frequently in a different language.
• In primary school: Support both languages and mathematics. Engage with teachers, and use available resources: the South Africa numeracy chair, mathsclubs.co.za, numbersense.co.za
• In senior phase (Grades 7 to 9): This is the crucial shift from arithmetic to algebra. Make use of online support like: learn.olico.co.za and siyavula.
• By Grade 9: Listen to teachers’ advice. But then reflect personally and consider your child’s performance, work ethic and career goals. Scoring under 30% and hating maths? Maths lit is the right path; Scoring just above 30% but uncertain? Stick with maths — you can still switch in Grade 11. Avoid steering them into maths lit just for an easy distinction. Struggling through maths at 30% is a far better education than acing maths lit.

I say again: we all want more learners taking and passing maths. I think most of us also all want to reduce inequality, and to see far greater proportions of black learners, from no-fee schools, taking and passing maths. But, we can now see that mathematics participation is not an end in itself. Unfortunately the way to achieve our desired end goal (more mathematics passes across the system) is not through the shortcut of simply encouraging more learners to take mathematics to matric level. 

Rather, our common goal requires much stronger preparation earlier in the system. By the time our teenagers reach Grade 10, their mathematics must be strong enough that they can make a wise choice to take mathematics to matric, and pass it. 

In sum, teachers, parents, schools and policymakers need to give thoughtful, context-sensitive and individualised advice. If we truly want more learners succeeding in mathematics, the real work begins much earlier — in the home, in early childhood, and in the primary years. DM