Pretoria - Experts in the training of engineers are seriously questioning the credibility of the recent matric mathematics results.
"Last year (2007) they had already been slightly doctored, but this year (2008) the symbols are excessively high," says head of department of engineering technology at the University of Johannesburg (UJ).
The mathematics results are, according to De Koker, less reliable year after year. Moreover, learners' performances in mathematics and physical science are suddenly inexplicable. "In the past these two subjects generally tracked each other," he points out.
This year's mathematics symbols are considerably higher across the board. "I have seen learners receiving 50% at the end of Grade 11 for both subjects. Now, at the end of Matric, they still get 50% for [physical] science, but 80% for mathematics."
What makes the high mathematics symbols even more inexplicable is that the former distinction between higher grade and standard grade has fallen away. Mathematics as a whole is currently supposed to be on a par with the former higher grade.
In the past all learners from rural schools, in particular, where teachers are often absent and do not have the ability to teach advanced mathematics, took the subject on standard grade. These learners fared considerably better this year than before.
All prospective students wishing to study in engineering disciplines at the UJ this year have to write the independent Alternative Admissions Research Project test (AARP) to gain admission.
According to De Koker, learners' mathematical comprehension does not match the symbols. Tertiary institutions moreover do not have the ability to give special attention to students with a backlog in mathematics. Because of the shortage of engineers in South Africa university staff are lured away by high salaries.
Allyson Lawless, author of Number and Needs, which in 2005 described the shortage of engineers in South Africa and how it related to problems in the education system, says the engineering industry is deeply concerned about scholars' mathematical abilities.
In her view the situation is getting worse every year and she has seen Grade 11 learners "who cannot divide 90 by 10, and do not know the length of 30cm". She reckons outcomes-based education has aggravated the problem because learners simply learn processes, rather than principles.
In 2008 there were 63 000 mathematics distinctions, compared with 25 000 in 2007. The Umaluzi quality assurance body previously said that symbols in individual subjects, including mathematics, had been shifted up last year. The department of education declined to respond when asked how much the mathematics results had been inflated.
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