How to clear the mental block against maths in SA - Thembaletu Mbangcolo

Statistics charting the performance of South African learners in maths is staggering. In the 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, they consistently scored in the bottom three countries over a range of tests. Fingers are being pointed at teachers in another study by the 2030 Reading Panel, indicating that newly graduated teachers from three universities scored an average weak 54% for a maths test meant for primary school pupils. The result is that less than 30% of matric students take maths, and only half of them pass their exams. But a Midrand parent, Thembaletu Mbangcolo, decided to do something about it and started tutoring his son and his success led to other parents entrusting their kids’ maths teaching to him. Mbangcolo told BizNews he researched methods to unblock the negativity to maths many students have, using Stanford Professor Jo Boaler’s method, called Mathematical Mindsets. He’d like to see South African education departments adopting its concepts. – Linda van Tilburg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices