Free solutions for Maths and Science problem

John Bransby, Fish Hoek

The performance of pupils in the International Grades 3, 6 and 9 PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) and TIMMS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) English and Mathematics assessments and evaluations, with matric results in Maths and Science over the past 15 years, indicate that the teaching, learning and understanding in these critical “gateway” subjects needs to improve, if we are going to meet the requirements of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) and the National Development Plan (NDP) for the next few years in South Africa.

The Covid-19 pandemic over the past few years, has set us back 1 to 2 years and with the number of highly skilled and experienced people leaving South Africa, this has truly exacerbated this critical situation.

Maths and Science Solutions is trying to improve the teaching, learning and understanding of Maths and Science at both primary and high Schools across the country. They have developed online lessons and tutorials that are ideal for teachers to use daily in the classroom situation for every lesson throughout the year, by making use of a laptop and a data projector and projecting the teaching materials and images onto a screen or white board. They cater for Grades 4 to 12 in Maths and Grades 8 to 12 in Natural and Physical Sciences.

All the Maths and Science pupils in these grades may also access these online lessons on their mobile phones, tablets or computers – irrespective of whether their teachers use them in class or not.

Pupils can use the printable Learner Notebooks from the website from which to study in class and to use throughout the year, as they prepare for their tests and exams.

Sponsorship (by the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust and the Ackerman Family Educational Trust), enables all lessons and tutorials to be provided for teachers and learners for FREE. In fact, the website is even zero rated for data usage by the National Department of Basic Education, too. This means that all teachers and pupils can thus get access to all the lessons for the whole year on this online website, at no cost to the end user.

Having completed the interactive quiz at the end of a tutorial, pupils may download and even print a certificate indicating successful completion, after they have scored above 80%. Teachers who also successfully complete the quizzes, can use their certificates for their annual SACE CPD points accumulation.

Maths and Science Solutions currently has 4 000 registered teachers, teaching +/- 300 000 pupils and an additional 18 000 pupils are also accessing the website on a regular basis at home.

All teachers, parents and pupils may access and order whatever they require in Maths and Science at: www.mathsandsciencelessons.com

For more information, contact them at: mwteach@mweb.co.za