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STAFF REPORTER
Zanele Ngwane, a former teacher at Sedibeng Full-Service School, which accepts learners with learning barriers, says teaching took on a new dimension after discovering My Maths Buddy, her book of wonders.
Starting at the school during the pandemic in 2020, she says the schools struggled due to a shortage of resources for teaching and learning resources.
“During the pandemic, learners took turns to come to school, all grades did not manage to finish the syllabus, and they had to be promoted to the next grade.”
Her despondent nature turned after she learned about South Africa’s Trusted Maths Upliftment Program, The My Maths Buddy “One Book One Learner Program” initiative of the South African Maths Foundation.
Starting at the school during the pandemic in 2020, she says the schools struggled due to a shortage of resources for teaching and learning resources.
“During the pandemic, learners took turns to come to school, all grades did not manage to finish the syllabus, and they had to be promoted to the next grade.”
That’s when I faced a new challenge, teaching children the previous grade’s work. “It was not easy at all, but I was introduced to the book of wonders, My Maths Buddy. Since I didn’t know how to use it, I was taken through various training. I mastered the skills from grade 3 to grade 7 level as I was teaching at a Primary school,” she said.
Ngwane, now Head of Department at Cullinan Primary School, said she took the initiative to introduce the dictionary to learners in grade 5 after discovering that learners were doing well because they needed to learn maths. Still, it was because they needed to have the correct vocabulary. They need help with terminology, meaning they did have knowledge and understanding of maths words.
After two months of using the book, she managed to take learners from a 60% to a 90% pass rate in mathematics, make learners able to search for words immediately after mentioning the new term and give them the words to search for from the book.
“Learners were able to use words in sentences and say them in their own words. I managed to get them to love this book so much that they carry it everywhere,” said Ngwane.
South African Maths Foundation, in partnership with the government, has been uplifting Maths education for over 20 years.
Now through this program which has been successfully running for more than eight years, it has positively impacted the lives of more than 40,000 learners and over 5,000 Maths teachers.
Program
“Before the My Maths Buddy program started, a teacher said at her school that the pass rate was 12%. “We had to go and account to the Department of Education for underperforming. We then asked for help from “My Maths Buddy”. Since the My Maths Buddy program started, the results have improved to 65%.”
The following year the school recorded 88% for the first term (up from 65% from the previous year), and the results for the second term reached 95%.
The latest results showed a 99% pass rate with average marks of 67%, up from the 19% average mark recorded at the beginning of the program.”
As part of Mandela Month, the Foundation has urged corporates to support the donation of books to schools that need them most, thus ensuring a Brighter Future For All.
“We Are Looking Forward To Working Together In Improving Maths Education in South Africa,” said the foundation.
Donate R6,700 or more to the Mandela Day Education Drive. This will be used to cover the training and development of 1 dedicated mathematics teacher and provide 5 Maths dictionaries to deserving learners.
To donate, contact neren@1book1learner.org or call 010-880-3979.
INSIDE EDUCATION