South African grade 5s have been ranked last in the world in maths and science in a global report called Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. The director of national assessment in the basic education department, Dr Mark Chetty, talks about what the department is doing to improve this.
Sowetan: How does the department explain this performance?
Chetty: The international studies on their own do not provide a complete picture because of the curriculum that the children are exposed to on a day-to-day basis. We need to take all three studies into consideration [the international, regional and local studies].
Sowetan: Where are the problem areas?
Chetty: What is coming out very strongly in the data is that we have a very strong match between the language at home and the language taken in the test. With the English learners, what we see is that their language at home is not the same as the language of the test or the language that they are receiving instructions on.
The majority of English learners are coming from the African home language. The language spoken at home is isiZulu, Setswana... but they are taking the test in English. The disjuncture between the languages is causing them to perform less well. We need to strengthen the teaching and learning of mathematics in African languages in the foundation phase.
Sowetan: What steps is the department currently taking to improve the performance of students in mathematics and science?
Chetty: Languages and maths start from grade 1, but there is a gap that needs to be strengthened and reinforced. The foundation phase teachers and teachers in grades 4 and 5 need to refocus their strategies to ensure that at the very minimum, the foundation is strengthened. The assessment diagnostics show that the main gaps are below grade 6.
Sowetan: What role can parents, communities and other stakeholders play in helping improve outcomes in mathematics and science?
Chetty: Learning doesn't only take place in school. It is initiated at school, but it starts and ends at home.
SowetanLIVE
Gaps in language, maths
What the department is doing to improve this
Image: DBE X
South African grade 5s have been ranked last in the world in maths and science in a global report called Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. The director of national assessment in the basic education department, Dr Mark Chetty, talks about what the department is doing to improve this.
Sowetan: How does the department explain this performance?
Chetty: The international studies on their own do not provide a complete picture because of the curriculum that the children are exposed to on a day-to-day basis. We need to take all three studies into consideration [the international, regional and local studies].
Sowetan: Where are the problem areas?
Chetty: What is coming out very strongly in the data is that we have a very strong match between the language at home and the language taken in the test. With the English learners, what we see is that their language at home is not the same as the language of the test or the language that they are receiving instructions on.
The majority of English learners are coming from the African home language. The language spoken at home is isiZulu, Setswana... but they are taking the test in English. The disjuncture between the languages is causing them to perform less well. We need to strengthen the teaching and learning of mathematics in African languages in the foundation phase.
Sowetan: What steps is the department currently taking to improve the performance of students in mathematics and science?
Chetty: Languages and maths start from grade 1, but there is a gap that needs to be strengthened and reinforced. The foundation phase teachers and teachers in grades 4 and 5 need to refocus their strategies to ensure that at the very minimum, the foundation is strengthened. The assessment diagnostics show that the main gaps are below grade 6.
Sowetan: What role can parents, communities and other stakeholders play in helping improve outcomes in mathematics and science?
Chetty: Learning doesn't only take place in school. It is initiated at school, but it starts and ends at home.
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