The KwaZulu-Natal department of education has set on a mission to improve its performance in the so-called gateway subjects.
Educationists, subject experts and maths teachers convened in Durban on Wednesday to map out a strategy which, according to department’s spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi, will see more pupils gain access to niche fields of study after matric.
STEM stands for academic programmes in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
“KZN is a maths province because we have a bigger number of students who take up mathematics,” Mahlambi told Sunday World.
“The two-day summit will deliberate on the strategy the province will adopt to improve our percentage in gateway subjects. We want to increase our tally to at least 70% and above.”
The province was buoyed by its achievement of 83% matric pass rate for the Class of 2022, a sharp increase of 6.2% compared with 2021.
KwaZulu-Natal also scored high among students who achieved bachelor passes.
Although many of the province’s rural districts were among the best-performing districts, most rural schools performed poorly in mathematics.
Tony Moodley, King Cetshwayo chief education specialist, told Sunday World that although the district recorded an 81.7% overall pass rate, pupils only achieved a 53% pass rate for mathematics.
“Our results in grade 7 are very good, but when learners come to grade 8 and 9 they have serious difficulties in terms of performing in mathematics,” said Moodley.
“We have to give greater focus on what is happening in primary schools. Most of our problems are located at the primary school level.”
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