First Quarterly Newsletter 2017

From the SAMF office

The South African Mathematics Foundation (SAMF) would like to announce that Professor Kerstin Jordaan, President of the South African Mathematical Society (SAMS) is the new Chairperson of the SAMF Board of Directors.  Other organisations represented on the SAMF Board are the Association for Mathematics Education of South Africa (AMESA), Department of Basic Education, Department of Science & Technology, NRF/SAASTA, Department of Higher Education, SA Statistics Association, Statistics South Africa and the Actuarial Society of South Africa. 

New SAMO Record 

The SA Mathematics Olympiad (SAMO) had a record number of 99 769 learners from 1 279 schools participating in the First Round which was writen on the 15^th of March.

The Second Round of the SAMO will be written on the 10th of May at individual schools. There are separate papers for the junior and seniors. The grade 8 and 9 learners write the same paper. The learners have two hours to complete 25 questions. Learners who participate in the second round receive a certificate of participation and they can use SAMO resource materials to help them prepare for the Second Round. 

Entries for SA Mathematics Challenge open 

Entries for the 2017 SA Mathematics Challenge (SAMC) for grades 4-7 are open and schools are encouraged to enter as many learners as possible. The first round will be written the week of the 8th till the 12th of May. 

The entry fee (covering both rounds) is R12 per learner for Quintile 3, 4 and 5 public schools, as well as for all private schools payable on entering for the First Round. South African schools with more than 100 entrants can enter at a reduced rate of R10 per learner and schools outside South Africa at R25 per learner. Quintile 1 and 2 schools can enter up to 100 learners free of charge. Click here for entry form.

Research : Access to Mathematics in the FET

The South African Mathematics Foundation’s Advisory Committee on Mathematics (ACM) has initiated a study to examine how various curriculum changes in the years from 1994 till 2014 affected or influenced Mathematics teaching and learning.  The study looked at trends at selected schools in a diverse district in one of the South African provinces. 

The study found that more learners have been taking Mathematics as a subject in the FET in South Africa since the implementation of the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) in 2006 and Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) in 2012. This has given more learners access to science related careers. However, numbers supplied by a given district, shows that not all schools have had an increase in mathematics numbers.

In fact, schools in certain geographical areas lag far behind in terms of access to Mathematics in the FET phase. This means that learners at schools in these areas are unlikely to pursue careers in the Sciences and Engineering.  The full report is available on https://www.samf.ac.za/access-to-mathematics-in-the-fet.

SAMF LAUNCHED NEW PROJECT WITH THE PALANGA TRAINING ACADEMY

The South African Mathematics Foundation (SAMF), in partnership with Palanga Publishing, envisages to improve mathematical conceptual knowledge by conducting ‘1 Book 1 Learner’ workshops for teachers and learners. Palanga Publishing’s Training Academy is the service provider for the workshops and supplies the books for this exciting and highly effective project. Read more.

Teacher courses now endorsed by SACE

Teachers can register for the Teacher Problem Solving Course which is available to provide hands-on training to teachers by exposing them to a variety of problem solving strategies and  techniques. All levels of the course are endorsed by SACE and teachers who pass the course can earn 10 CPD points. The course is offered in 5 different levels and you can contact the SAMF office for more information.

The following levels are offered:

• Primary (Grades 4 - 7)  
• GET Level 1 (Live taught or DVD)
• GET Level 2 (DVD only)
• GET Level 3 (DVD only)

FET Level 1 (Live taught or DVD)

The Siyanqoba Regional Olympiad Training Programme sponsored by the Department of Science & Technology, is a programme which concentrates on developing problem solving skills, unlike in regular school curricula where the focus is more on solving routine-type questions. 

Two new training centres were established namely TUT and NMMU. The programme now offers Olympiad training at nine centres across the country.