"Not your ordinary maths class..."

South African maths education is in a state of crisis, with performance outcomes that place South African learners at the bottom of international comparisons of mathematics competence. At the same time, mathematics competence is an essential requisite for many areas of well-paid employment in key sectors of the South African development economy. In light of these realities, the USP places significant emphasis on supporting the teaching and learning of mathematics in our partner schools. Our maths programming includes:

Friday Matric Maths

Matric learners from all five of our partner schools are invited at the beginning of each year to join a special maths support programme held on Friday afternoons each week at the Wiggins/Umkhumbane Library. In keeping with our mission of fostering learner agency and replacing rote learning with active skills development, learners are placed in collaborative groups to work through maths problems together. Brief lectures are provided by our lead maths educator, Mr Nkosinathi Masondo, but primary emphasis is placed on giving the learners an opportunity to engage with the material in an active way, assisted by a trained, dedicated team of university students who serve as our Maths Mentors.

Weekly attendance ranges from 40 – 80 learners each week throughout the school year.

Saturday Grade 11 Maths

Following the same format as the Friday Matric Maths programme, our Saturday Maths brings together 80-90 Grade 11 learners from among our five schools to work in groups, using a curriculum of maths exercises designed and coordinated by Mr Masondo and guided by our team of Maths Mentors. This crowd of maths learners is a lively and energetic group of young people all devoted to a vision of becoming better maths learners.

Weekly attendance ranges from 40-80 learners throughout the school year.