International Mathematics Day was celebrated on 14 March 2024, under the theme: “Playing with Math”. Teaching Mathematics for Understanding (TMU) pilot schools displayed learner’s active engagement in Mathematics activities using the Maths kits (Base 10 kits, number lines, array diagrams, place value tables) and encouraging learners to use their own strategies. South Africa still faces challenges in improving Mathematics outcomes across the basic education system, as well as the selection between Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy.
The National Mathematics Improvement Plan is a response to an upcoming curriculum revision process, including trimming and reorganising for depth, focus, and future competencies, that is being driven by the shortcomings highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic towards a Strengthened Curriculum 2025. This process is necessary given the pressing need to improve the quality of mathematics instruction, beginning with the early grades. In order to create a pedagogical framework for South Africa, the Basic Education Minister appointed a Ministerial Task Force during the 2016 DBE Maths Indaba to contextualise and adapt the strands to the South African environment.
The Teaching and Learning Mathematics for South Africa Framework suggests actions to be implemented to change the way mathematics is taught in South Africa with the focus on the importance of number sense- and number concept and how it is backed by reading, writing, reasoning, and conversation. This Framework does not take the place of CAPS as a curriculum. Rather, it offers guidance to teachers that will enable them to transform their teaching. This transformation should lead to teaching for understanding, so that learning for understanding will take place in all mathematics classrooms in South Africa. Using the teaching and learning strategies that are best suited for the particular lesson being given, the instructor creates learning experiences with the goal of assisting students in learning mathematics.
The TMU Framework and the Mental Starters Assessment Project (MSAP) programmes are examples of collaborative efforts between government and partners, including researchers and practitioners. The UNESCO Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report for South Africa (Spotlight Series Report), launched during the Lekgotla, hailed and shone the spotlight on South Africa’s efforts in honing a culture of positive practices in mathematics teaching in the early grades. These initiatives and others such as the DBE Workbooks and FP Mathematics Learning Recovery Diagnostic Tasks were consulted.
The report saluted SA’s efforts in sharpening certain practices in mathematics education in the early grades through the visualization in the TMU approach, which involves the use of bilingual teacher and learner resources and its command for the pedagogical practice to actively engage learners in their learning, the use of practical and interactive opportunities for learner education using manipulatives, to a degree the use of various concrete apparatus (bottle tops, number lines, diagrams, etc.) to ensure learners are active in their learning and its relevance to their context. The report acknowledges the practices observed in the classroom as corresponding to what is expected by the curriculum, and print materials of both Grades 3 and 6 with global proficiency framework standards and includes appropriate grade-level topics.