Scrap maths literacy, it’s ‘undermining our children’s future’ - Mamphela Ramphele
- MAR
- Apr 24
- 7 min read
Published 21 April 2026 Prega Govender
Dr Mamphela Ramphele says all children are capable of studying maths.
Maths experts have, however, cautioned that removing maths literacy without addressing foundational gaps, teacher quality, and resource inequalities could increase dropout and failure rates.
The Department of Basic Education has admitted that recent research indicates that a larger proportion of Grade 10-12 pupils opt for maths literacy over maths.
Respected thought leader and academic Dr Mamphela Ramphele says that “the country is undermining the future of our children by continuing to offer maths literacy” instead of maths in schools.
Ramphele, the co-founder of Reimagine SA, told News24 that “there is no child who cannot do maths”.
While some maths experts have endorsed her views, Dr Rebecca Selkirk from Stellenbosch University (SU) said that “until we can improve the mathematical preparedness of learners entering Grade 10, maths literacy offers a critical pathway for many learners to successfully reach and pass matric”.
“Research conducted by SU’s Research on Socio-Economic Policy (RESEP) unit found that learners who entered Grade 10 with a Grade 9 maths mark below 40% were at much higher risk of failing to reach and pass matric if they chose maths instead of maths literacy in Grade 10.”
Based on the research, she believes that removing maths literacy “would do nothing to address the issue of learners entering Grade 10 with inadequate maths skills, and it would furthermore set many learners up for Grade repetition, dropout, and matric failure if current standards and patterns were maintained”.
The number of Grade 12 pupils who wrote maths literacy increased by 55 325 between 2023 and 2025, from 421 835 to 477 160, while those who wrote maths dropped by 7 601, from 262 016 to 254 415.
Ramphele, meanwhile, sang the praises of the LEAP Science & Maths Schools, saying they had proven over the past 22 years that pupils can study maths.
“Students at LEAP do maths, physical science and indigenous languages of choice, all on the higher Grade level,” she said.
“LEAP schools significantly outperform the 88% national average of state schools. LEAP has broken the persistent racist stereotype that African people cannot learn maths because they cannot think in three dimensions. This absurdity has held back millions of children in our society.”
John Gilmour, founder of LEAP Schools, said they did not offer maths literacy and that all pupils studied maths and physical science.
He added that since 2004, more than 3 300 pupils who had studied maths had matriculated from LEAP schools.
“Many learners enter LEAP three to four years behind in maths, with significant language gaps and the emotional burden of difficult social circumstances.
“The issue is not that these young people lack ability. The issue is that the system too often confuses fear, low confidence and accumulated failure with inability.”
Selkirk said that “we need to be careful not to make policy decisions (and subject offerings) which are aspirational and not appropriate for our current educational circumstances”.
She added:
Regardless of whether one thinks that having all children do maths is a reasonable long-term aspiration, our current reality is that a substantial proportion of our learners are reaching Grade 10 without a sufficient foundation in maths.
“At scale, this is a large enough problem that it would be impractical (if not impossible) to close the gap sufficiently through remediation in the FET [grades 10-12] phase.
“But if we cannot close the gap for current (inadequately prepared) learners, forcing them into maths would do exactly what Dr Ramphele wishes to avoid - undermine their futures.
“For such learners, a matric pass with maths literacy will arguably give them better prospects than dropping out of school or failing matric with maths.”
Selkirk said the insufficient maths foundation was not caused by the existence of maths literacy.
“Debating if the subject should be on offer risks drawing attention away from the underlying issue of inadequate mathematics skills, which arises well before any subject decisions are made in Grade 10.”
She added that, instead, resources should be focused on improving maths in the earlier grades where gaps arise, “thereby improving the preparedness of learners entering Grade 10”.
Judah Makonye, an associate professor in maths education at Wits University, said: “I do believe maths literacy should eventually be abolished, but this must be a gradual process. A sudden removal of maths literacy could exacerbate inequity and marginalisation.
“For now, it plays an important role in equipping citizens with functional mathematical skills.”
She added that while maths literacy was introduced to broaden access, “it has often become a parallel track that limits learners’ future opportunities”.
“I agree that every learner can do maths, but this requires strong support in terms of teacher competence, deep content knowledge, and teaching for conceptual understanding rather than rote procedures that restrict learners’ problem‑solving capabilities in mainstream maths.”
Makonye, a NRF-rated researcher, said that teachers must be prepared to teach for conceptual understanding, “showing why rules work and how they connect to learners’ prior knowledge”.
“Importantly, maths learning is not only cognitive; it is also deeply psychological and sociological. Learners’ confidence, identity, and classroom culture all shape their achievement.”
She added that without addressing these dimensions, particularly at the Foundation Phase (Grades R, 1, 2, and 3), simply removing maths literacy risked widening inequities, because learners’ identities as maths learners were already damaged by Grade 4.
She said she did not believe that maths could be done by some students and not others, adding: “Rather, with the right support, all learners are capable of engaging meaningfully with maths.”
Dr Qetelo Moloi from Kelello Collectives NPC agreed, saying every child can do maths, provided they are given the opportunity, which includes proper instruction in the subject and ample access to relevant resources, such as textbooks.
“It is a known fact historically that training maths teachers or equipping them to teach the subject properly was not a priority,” she added.
Moloi said there was a mismatch between the language used to teach maths, particularly during the early years of schooling, and the language pupils used at home.
“The combination of these undesirable professional and contextual factors results in an extremely uneven terrain in which maths teaching and learning take place.
“Our country is, therefore, being pragmatic and sensitive to the historical and contextual realities by continuing to provide opportunities to most of our learners to access basic numeracy by offering maths literacy as an alternative to maths.”
Kathleen Fonseca, head of the Department of Childhood Education at the University of Johannesburg, said the LEAP schools had proved that children from the most impoverished townships could achieve outstanding maths results.
“If every child received what LEAP learners receive, small classes, qualified and caring teachers, extended learning time, emotional support, strong early childhood development, and a school culture built on relentless high expectations, then maths literacy, as a separate subject, would indeed become unnecessary,” she added.
Fonesca said one factor shaping a child’s mathematical journey was the quality of teaching and schooling.
She added:
South Africa’s maths crisis is not primarily a learner problem; it is a system problem.
She said that weak teaching in the Foundation Phase, under-trained teachers, low expectations, and a curriculum that routed struggling learners into maths literacy rather than addressing the reasons they were struggling were structural failures.
Fonseca said that removing maths literacy without first fixing Foundation Phase teaching, teacher quality, class sizes, and the socioeconomic conditions that make meaningful learning impossible “would simply return hundreds of thousands of learners to mathematical invisibility”.
“Maths literacy was never supposed to be a refuge for children; it was supposed to be a citizenship subject aiming to develop every South African’s capacity to read a budget, question a statistic, interpret a graph, and challenge a financial contract.”
She added that citizenship content in maths literacy should be compulsory for all pupils, including those taking pure maths.
Bruce Brown, a professor of maths education at Rhodes University, said that if maths literacy were removed from the curriculum, there would be two choices: either all pupils would have to do maths, or not all pupils would need to learn it.
“Where do we get the maths teachers to teach, as already we are battling to find enough good maths teachers?”
Terence Khala, spokesperson for the Department of Basic Education, said that all pupils had to study either maths, maths literacy or technical maths.
“Current policy priorities emphasise reducing enrolment in maths literacy while increasing participation in both maths and technical maths.”
He added that maths was designed for those pursuing STEM-related pathways (science, technology, engineering and maths) that required abstract reasoning and advanced problem-solving, while maths literacy focused on applied numeracy, such as financial literacy, data interpretation and real-world problem-solving.
“The department’s position is that not all learners currently achieve the foundational competencies required to succeed in pure maths in Grades 10-12.
“Removing maths literacy without addressing systemic gaps, for example, early grade numeracy, teacher capacity and resource inequalities, may lead to higher failure and dropout rates.”
Khala said that maths literacy served as an important inclusion mechanism, “ensuring broader access to a meaningful school-leaving qualification”.
“The department is actively working to improve foundational maths teaching in earlier grades, increase learner participation and success in maths and expand teacher development and curriculum support.”
He added that they recognised the success of models such as the LEAP schools, which demonstrated what was possible under specific conditions.
“These models provide valuable insights, particularly on extended instructional time, strong academic support systems and smaller class sizes and targeted interventions.”
Khala, however, said that an important consideration was that LEAP schools administered admission tests and did not admit all pupils.
“They select learners who demonstrate potential, and those who do not meet the criteria are not admitted. The outcomes they achieve are therefore based on a cohort that has already been screened for readiness and potential.”
He said that, in contrast, public schools did not select pupils but admitted all, “regardless of prior performance or demonstrated potential”.
“This distinction is critical when comparing outcomes and considering scalability within the broader public education system.”
Khala said that data over recent years indicated that a larger proportion of Grade 10-12 learners opted for maths literacy rather than maths, and that this trend reflected challenges in maths performance in earlier grades and perceptions of maths as “a higher-risk subject for passing the NSC [National Senior Certificate]”.
“The department has prioritised increasing maths enrolment, particularly among learners who demonstrate potential in earlier phases.
“Interventions include curriculum strengthening, learner support programmes, and targeted initiatives to improve maths participation and outcomes.”
