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Focus on maths, science learner performance - Newsroom - 15-09-2011 Cape Town – The quality and quantity of maths and science teachers has been questioned by some Members of Parliament as the country sought ways to improve learner performance in these critical subjects. The Portfolio Committee on Science and Technology was on Wednesday briefed by the Departments of Science and Technology, Basic and Higher Education on plans to improve academic achievements in sciences and maths. Some MPs suggested that the country needed specific teacher training programmes in those areas, and voiced their concerns that some maths teachers, who lacked confidence in class, resorted to studying “like learners” before lessons. Education authorities said one in seven learners left Grade 12 with a pass in maths and the number “is even lower for physical science.” The Department of Basic Education said part of its programmes to improve the status quo was the Dinaledi schools project, aimed at improving maths and science performance. Project manager Sifiso Sibiya said the programme, started in 2001, comprised 500 poorly resourced schools facing challenges in those key subject areas. “The project is designed to provide a cost-effective way of channeling scarce resources in the context of competing priorities.” Among the project’s outcomes in 2011/12, he said they were expecting to train 2 000 teachers in the critical subjects, distribute 50 computers in each of the project schools and top-up seven textbooks for each learner in Grades 8 - 12. Sibiya said they were running an Adopt-A-Dinaledi School Project, which sought to the promote quality teaching and learning maths, science and languages. In collaboration with the World Bank, he said they carried out an impact evaluation programme, which had since shown an increasing number of learners passing maths and sciences in rural schools in KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo. Basic Education said by next year, they aimed to provide every learner from Grade 10 to 12 with a maths and science textbook. Dr Phethiwe Matutu, of the Department of Science and Technology, said they were supporting both the Departments of Basic and Higher Education through the implementation of the Youth into Sciences Strategy (Yiss). She said that part of Yiss’ objectives were to “prepare selected learners for higher education life (nurturing),” and providing engineering students with placement “for compulsory experiential learning.” She said they supported Basic Education in part by participating in the Adopt-A-Dinaledi School Project. - BuaNews