Government pins hopes on NGO to find maths teachers

Teach South Africa’s recruitment team is currently visiting universities around the country to find graduates who are willing to teach maths to school pupils — mostly in rural areas.

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said on Monday the department was partnering with the NGO because of a shortage of qualified mathematics teachers.

She said the department has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Teach South Africa to place teachers‚ called ambassadors‚ in schools that do not have qualified mathematics teachers.

 “This forms part of the DBE’s national strategy to address the shortage of mathematics teachers‚ as well as ensuring the promotion of mathematics as a subject necessary for the growth of the South African economy‚” she said in a statement.

Last year‚ the Minister said in a parliamentary response that one in four schools do not offer maths in grades 10‚ 11 and 12 because of teacher shortages and a low pupil enrolment.

 Teach South Africa already recruits and selects young graduates in the field of Mathematics‚ Science and English from universities across the country and places them in disadvantaged and rural schools for a minimum period of two years.

 “In this partnership (to find maths teachers)‚ the Teach Ambassadors will be placed in schools that are located mostly in rural areas where it is often difficult to attract qualified mathematics teachers‚” the organisation said.

Teach South Africa Executive Director Richard Masemola elaborated: “School districts in the Eastern Cape‚ KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo had the lowest number of students who passed matric in 2015. We applaud Minister Motshekga for addressing this by ensuring quality mathematics teachers are placed specifically in these areas.”

Teach SA says on its website that placement of ambassadors is done in conjunction with school districts and private sector partners.

 The NGO said its ambassadors are paid by school districts and private sector partners.

Since its inception in 2009‚ it has placed 382 graduates in eight provinces and in 228 schools‚ helping about 25‚000 learners. “To date‚ 57% of Teach Ambassadors remain in the teaching profession‚ thereby increasing the pool of teachers in these scarce skills‚” the organisation says.

Motshekga said the initiative was an important step in the right direction.

 “We need to continue to work with our partners in civil society to ensure that we begin to see improvements‚ not only the numbers of learners who take up mathematics as a subject‚ but we also want learners to come back into the system as qualified mathematics teachers one day.

 “We come from a past where not all learners have had the opportunity to take mathematics as a subject in school‚ hence the shortage of qualified mathematics teachers today. We need to work hard to ensure that all learners‚ no matter their social-economic background have every opportunity available to take up careers of their choice without any limitations.”