Article: Matric pass rate improved in 2012

[Paul_S]

Try as you may to force people to do Maths but some pupils just don't have the aptitude for it. However it does not mean that they are stupid. So why waste their time and effort over someting that they will discard at the earliest opportunity anyway ?

From what I see in the industry I'm employed in, are people who don't seem to have an aptitude for anything career related other than being a cleaner.
I'm not being racist because I'm referring to young white and Indian people too.
Forget about Math and Science, I'm talking about zero initiative, zero problem resolving skills, zero forethought before doing something stupid, always blaming their mistakes on colleagues ... the list can go on and on.
This is in the private sector so I shudder to think what happens in the public sector where jobs are more secure and you're unlikely to be fired for incompetence.
If this is the way of the future then I'm afraid South Africa isn't going to have a pleasant one once all the competent people have retired from the economy.

 

[JungleBoy]

Fixed.

And if their basics were broken because of bantu school education, how ever did they cope at university?

Actualy the older ones never experienced Bantu Education which only came into effect in 1953. Before that, there had been very good missionary education system. Most of those missionary schools decided to rather close down than be part of Bantu Education.

 

[Kosmik]

Jees... your dad even waited for you? I'm impressed, he must have loved you alot.

Mine would just arrive home, beat us (just because we had to have done something wrong), then go on with the evening.....

Nah mine would listen if we complained because he knew that we knew if we were wrong and whining about it, he was gonna give us some extra.

 

[DreamKing]

Try as you may to force people to do Maths but some pupils just don't have the aptitude for it. However it does not mean that they are stupid. So why waste their time and effort over someting that they will discard at the earliest opportunity anyway ?

it also doesn't mean that they are NOT stupid either!!!! :wtf:

so what's your point?

 

[ponder]

Try as you may to force people to do Maths but some pupils just don't have the aptitude for it. However it does not mean that they are stupid. So why waste their time and effort over someting that they will discard at the earliest opportunity anyway ?

Why make people take a second language, i know plenty of souties than can barely string two afrikaans words together and they had to do afrikaans in school? Why bother doing any subjects at all?

At that age most people have no fscking clue what they gonna do one day (some never do even at 60) so you might as well make them do certain subjects that could be to their benefit one day. If i could have picked my subjects in school there would only have been 3 of them, maths, science & english.

Maths was compulsory when I was at school, those that struggled with HG maths did SG maths (which is way above math lit) and then there was an additional subject called advance maths that was optional. People passed back then, why is it a problem now or is it a cultural/race thing?

 

[DreamKing]

Maths was compulsory when I was at school, those that struggled with HG maths did SG maths (which is way above math lit) and then there was an additional subject called [-]advance[/-] Additional maths that was optional. People passed back then, why is it a problem now or is it a cultural/race thing?

fixed

 

[Dylan_G]

Why make people take a second language, i know plenty of souties than can barely string two afrikaans words together and they had to do afrikaans in school? Why bother doing any subjects at all?

At that age most people have no fscking clue what they gonna do one day (some never do even at 60) so you might as well make them do certain subjects that could be to their benefit one day. If i could have picked my subjects in school there would only have been 3 of them, maths, science & english.

Maths was compulsory when I was at school, those that struggled with HG maths did SG maths (which is way above math lit) and then there was an additional subject called advance maths that was optional. People passed back then, why is it a problem now or is it a cultural/race thing?

+1

Why strive for mediocrity? Pass pure maths on standard grade and then be free to sweep the streets or whatever you choose. After a few years of this and then realising you want to move up in life, at least you have a pass on pure maths to fall back on.

 

[Grant]

Odd thing. I never enjoyed maths at all but was really good at it. I was later forced into "ad maths" to avoid detention for setting fire to a science lab

 

[Kosmik]

Odd thing. I never enjoyed maths at all but was really good at it. I was later forced into "ad maths" to avoid detention for setting fire to a science lab

Too much potassium?

 

[Grant]

Too much potassium?

could have been. The stuff had to be kept in oil. If removed and the oil dried off, it would react with oxygen & burst into flames. Being the class jester, as leaving for lunch break i stuck a huge piece on the end of a shatterproof ruler & flicked it at a huge paper poster of the table of elements.
Part of it started burning during lunch & fell to the teachers desk - and so began an unexpected chain of events

 

[Kosmik]

could have been. The stuff had to be kept in oil. If removed and the oil dried off, it would react with oxygen & burst into flames. Being the class jester, as leaving for lunch break i stuck a huge piece on the end of a shatterproof ruler & flicked it at a huge paper poster of the table of elements. Part of it started burning during lunch & fell to the teachers desk - and so a chain of unexpected events began

Lol ok no, thats phosphor probably, ignites in air.

 

[SaiyanZ]

Maths is important to have but it was much simpler for me than the language subjects, english and afrikaans. I never could get above 80% for the languages. Matriculated in 2000 with five A's because I also did an extra subject, additional maths. Got C's for the languages but the average of my five A's were 98%... Maths, Additional Maths, Physics, Biology, Accounting. The two C's brought down my overall average to 89%.

 

[JungleBoy]

Why make people take a second language, i know plenty of souties than can barely string two afrikaans words together and they had to do afrikaans in school? Why bother doing any subjects at all?

At that age most people have no fscking clue what they gonna do one day (some never do even at 60) so you might as well make them do certain subjects that could be to their benefit one day. If i could have picked my subjects in school there would only have been 3 of them, maths, science & english.

Maths was compulsory when I was at school, those that struggled with HG maths did SG maths (which is way above math lit) and then there was an additional subject called advance maths that was optional. People passed back then, why is it a problem now or is it a cultural/race thing?

I was also forced to do Afrikaans at school. However that has not helped me one bit as I cannot understand or speak the language even though I passed it with a C. As far as I'm concerned that could be wrtten off as some of my precious time wasted. I could have added a more useful subject. I don't have Afrikaners in my social circles and those that I encounter at work can speak English as a second language just like I do. I would have been better served by learning one of the Sotho languages as a third language instead of Afrikaans.

Subjects that have no relevance are pointless. Those that are willing and capable of pursuing studies in the scientific fields should do pure maths and the rest should not be bothered. Math literacy is enough for everybody else.

Again I have to reiterate that in the old Deartment of Education and Training it was very strange that Maths was not compulsory but Afrikaans was in order to get a Matric exemption.

 

[ponder]

Those that are willing and capable of pursuing studies in the scientific fields should do pure maths and the rest should not be bothered. Math literacy is enough for everybody else.

People have no idea what they are gonna do in future. Saying math lit is ok for everybody else is accepting low standards and mediocrity and this will be reflected in a nations prosperity eventually. But hey we live in Africa and that's how we roll here.

Why have such low expectations for your children?

 

[Sinbad]

People have no idea what they are gonna do in future. Saying math lit is ok for everybody else is accepting low standards and mediocrity and this will be reflected in a nations prosperity eventually. But hey we live in Africa and that's how we roll here.

Exactly. Taking maths lit instead of maths WILL limit your options severely.

 

[JungleBoy]

People have no idea what they are gonna do in future. Saying math lit is ok for everybody else is accepting low standards and mediocrity and this will be reflected in a nations prosperity eventually. But hey we live in Africa and that's how we roll here.

I think that is not accepting mediocrity but rather channeling pupils towards the fields in which they can make a more meaningful contribution.
Social Workers, Psychologists, Politicians, Linguists, Educationists, Lawyers, etc, don't need to learn integral calculus but those wanting a career in engineering do. Also school pupils get 10 years to figure out what they are good at. In fact those that are scientifically gifted naturally gravitate towards Pure Maths and Science. Everything including Maths and Science is compulsory until Grade 10, or isn't it?

 

[ponder]

Hey if that is what you want for your kids and are happy for them to be ranked at the crap end of the global education index then so be it.

 

[CR34M3]

I think that is not accepting mediocrity but rather channeling pupils towards the fields in which they can make a more meaningful contribution.
Social Workers, Psychologists, Politicians, Linguists, Educationists, Lawyers, etc, don't need to learn integral calculus but those wanting a career in engineering do. Also school pupils get 10 years to figure out what they are good at. In fact those that are scientifically gifted naturally gravitate towards Pure Maths and Science. Everything including Maths and Science is compulsory until Grade 10, or isn't it?

I'm just going to put this out there again; the issue is not the concept of maths literacy but rather the level. Have a look at those papers posted earlier -- the level of skill required to do them is just sad.

 

[DreamKing]

Hey if that is what you want for your kids and are happy for them to be ranked at the crap end of the global education index then so be it.

don't worry, they are very happy not to get any education.

 

[JungleBoy]

Hey if that is what you want for your kids and are happy for them to be ranked at the crap end of the global education index then so be it.

My kid will definately do Pure Maths at Matric. Even at grade two he has shown consistently higher marks for maths than anything else.
People are just not created equal and that's a fact we cannot deny. Some of the 2012 matriculants achieved 100% for Maths and Science while some barely scrapped through and others failed dismally. Those that barely scrapped through cannot be expected to suddenly enrol in the science and engineering faculty and hope for a miracle from there onwards. Why would you want to treat everyone like they are of equal abilities? Forcing learners into subjects that they don't have the aptitude for is counterproductive as failure leads to low self esteem. The world is not uniform and Maths/Science are not the only fields of study.