South Africa risks falling further behind in the race for innovation in special economic growth areas such as technology, including the much-vaunted Fourth Industrial Revolution, because of poor performance in mathematics.
James Lees, CEO of Advantage Learn, which promotes maths education, said the impact of this failure in South Africa will be most felt in the loss of competitive advantage.
“Stem (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) capability underpins much of the world’s innovation, and without it, our economy will not grow to its full potential. Furthermore, without home-grown Stem talent, we risk missing opportunities to build new industries and create employment.”
He said what was deeply concerning was that South Africa has the talent, but because of a lack of infrastructure, cannot fully utilise it. “I hear of many capable students who cannot study medicine, not because of academic merit, but because there are too few opportunities at home. Our focus should be on cultivating and supporting local talent rather than importing skills.”
He said many local companies were outsourcing software engineering to India or Eastern Europe, thus deepening the scourge of unemployment.
He said what was worse than South Africa failing to produce maths graduates was that families who saw potential in their children were sending them to study abroad. “Then they pursue studies and careers abroad, further depleting our national skills base and weakening our economic prospects.”
He said South Africans needed to be careful because the statistics were giving them a false sense of security. Last year, for instance, South Africa registered a maths pass rate of 69.1% from 63.5% the previous year, however, the number of pupils taking the subject fell by more than 10 000, from 268 100 to 255 762. “Unless we strengthen our foundation education and improve poor learner attitudes, we can expect further joblessness,” he said, adding that only 7% of those diminishing matriculants qualify for Stem-related university education.
“This a problem that needs prompt and serious attention.”
