Instead of sleeping or catching up with friends, many Alex pupils have given up their Saturdays to improve their marks in subjects such as maths.
The Saturday school, known as Maths and Science Academy for Alexandra Schools (MSAAS) was initiated by the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica), the country’s pre-eminent accountancy body.
Saica’s Matsoso Tsoaeli, a project director for transformation and growth, said while most teenagers saw Saturdays as a day to relax, some Grade 10 pupils in the township saw it differently.
Started in February this year, MSAAS takes 100 pupils from Alexandra’s high schools who have dedicated their Saturdays to attend the academy and aims at helping them better their marks in pure mathematics, physical science, accounting and English.
“Very few township pupils go on to pursue courses that require maths or science at university,” said Tsoaeli. “The two main reasons for this are, firstly, that very few take pure maths as a matric subject – favouring maths literacy instead, and secondly out of those who do pure maths, only 32 percent achieve the required pass mark of 30 percent as per the 2015 National Senior Certificate final matric exam results.”
She pointed out this rate was far lower than the 50 to 60 percent that relevant university courses required for entry. With Saica’s help, they have begun to offer Grade 10 pupils Saturday enrichment classes that will help them buck this alarming trend and it’s all thanks to the MSAAS project, Tsoaeli said.
Hosted at Minerva Secondary School between 8am and 2.30pm every Saturday, the project is attended by pupils of Alexandra’s five high schools, Realogile, Minerva, Eastbank, Alex and KwaBhekilanga.
Pupils on the programme are selected using the following criteria:
- They take pure maths, physical science and accounting.
- Based on their Grade 9 results, their teachers recognise that they have the potential to excel if given additional support.
- They are not currently involved in additional supplementary classes.
Details: Karin Iten 011 621 6913 or karini@saica.co.za
