Matric maths teachers in KwaZulu-Natal performed dismally when tested with a past matric maths paper, The Star reported on Monday, 21 July 2014.<\/p>\n
Research was carried out with 253 teachers in the province to investigate their knowledge of the subject they are teaching.<\/p>\n
Teachers got an average mark of 57 percent, and a quarter of them got below 39 percent – a higher grade pass mark is 40%.<\/p>\n
The research was published in the “Perspectives in Education Journal” in March and authored by Thokozani Mkhwanazi and Sarah Bansilal from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and Deonarain Brijlall from the Durban University of Technology.<\/p>\n
The difficulty of questions in a maths exam is broken down into four levels, with level four being the most challenging.<\/p>\n
The teachers who wrote the test managed an average of 26 percent on level four questions, which made researchers question how they could be teaching their pupils.<\/p>\n
“The results of this study raise concerns about the teaching of maths by (Grade 10 to 12) teachers whose knowledge is so poor,” the researchers were quoted as saying.<\/p>\n
Truth about SA\u2019s mathematics, science education quality<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n SA maths education not so bad: Minister Pandor<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n