Every year, the ANC dedicates the month of October to one of its iconic leaders and former president Oliver Reginald Tambo, affectionately as OR.

As I analysed the national discourse on this heroic celebration, I felt compelled to shed some light on his less published achievements in education, as he was not only a consummate politician and a lawyer of note, but also an extraordinary science and maths teacher.

A careful analysis of OR's legacy as a teacher reveals that he was one of a few African pioneers who realised that maths and science provide solid foundations of knowledge essential for acquiring critical skills in areas such as business sciences, engineering and natural sciences-related expertise, something that was denied to millions of African children by the apartheid regime.

He was indeed a shining example of how a person can be both an accomplished teacher and a visionary leader in education. As David James Smith succinctly put it: "As a young teacher at the mission school St Peter's in Johannesburg. he had been a popular figure at the school, respected and admired by staff as well as pupils, as a man with firm beliefs and a sense of fairness."

Evidently, OR's educational philosophy was based on the premise that education should heighten awareness and consciousness as espoused by Paul Freire, the Brazilian philosopher and educationist who pioneered critical thinking as a progressive teaching and learning model, where education is a dialogue between educators and learners.

Perhaps in order to inject more life into our education system, we need to design and implement a system that grants special recognition and promotion and material benefits to those teachers who demonstrate that they can teach better. And our teacher unions should support initiatives and interventions aimed at measuring and evaluating the performance of teachers regularly.

Additionally, in order to improve the quality of our education system we must employ stringent methods of accountability and periodic evaluation of our principals as this practice has been found to be effective elsewhere.

"Regardless of its location what makes a good school excellent is leadership. You can find schools in the poorest and most disadvantaged areas achieving success against the odds.

"The common denominator here is often the principal as a leader who will focus on teamwork, commitment and passion. Importantly, leadership is about more than just good management skills. It also involves vision and curriculum leadership," as a document titled OR Tambo Debate: Where is The Accountability in Schools in Education, states.

As our country faces cut-throat global economic competition, we need an education system that can serve as a springboard for the majority of our talented students to acquire an assortment of marketable skills and enables them to become entrepreneurs.

These measures would enhance South Africa's ability to deal with the chronic shortage of critical skills that require maths and science as the base for learning and economic growth.

These are essential skills needed by educated nations in today's technologically driven world, requiring countries to have a strong culture of maths, science and technology embedded in their education.

We should always draw inspiration from OR's legacy as we attempt to unpack the meaning of his life in an attempt to ensure our children acquire the skills essential for learning as they prepare for their future.