Cape Town - Does Christmas Day fall on December 25? Matriculants who were able to answer this question correctly scored two points in their maths literacy exam last year.
The question was asked to test the pupils’ ability to use probability to predict outcomes in real life situations, Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga said.
Last year, 87.4 percent of grade 12 pupils passed maths literacy.
Peter Smith of the IFP asked Motshekga in a parliamentary question whether she thought the question served “any mathematical purpose”. The question read: “State whether the following event is certain, most likely or impossible: Christmas Day is on December 25 in South Africa.”
Motshekga said the question assessed the concept of “probability” and therefore did serve a mathematical purpose.
She said that because the statement “Christmas Day is on 25 December in South Africa” was true and its probability was 100 percent, it could be expressed as “certain”.
