Aaron Koopman, from The Independent Institute of Education, advises learners and parents to think very carefully before doing so, as a solid grounding in the subject can make a lifelong difference not only to one’s career prospects but also to those areas of life which seemingly have nothing to do with numbers.
“At school we are told regularly that if we do not keep mathematics as a subject we will not gain access to a commerce or science degree of our choice. What we often do not hear is that apart from providing access to limited enrolment degrees, sticking with maths provides important life skills and a competitive advantage you won’t find anywhere else,” he said.
Koopman added that even those learners opting for maths literacy should continue to take the mathematical steps and processes seriously, as a solid grounding in maths truly sets one up for life.
Also read: Africa Check: Afrikaans schools produced 16% of SA’s maths distinctions – not 88%
“Maths teaches you so much, from the memory and recall skills you gained from learning your times tables, to the focus and concentration that mental arithmetic calculations strengthen, through to the most important skills of all related logic, reason and problem-solving.”
He said maths also enables you to understand sequencing and planning, starting at the right point and working methodically to get the right answer. And when it does not work out the way it should, it is one’s mathematical and analytical skills that help you to work through each step and figure out why things did not turn out the way they should have.
“maths also helps you develop persistence as you apply and discard solutions while trying to make sense of a problem. It is the bridge between the world we live in, think of the ‘story sums’ we started in our early grades – and the creative and brilliant solutions that lie behind the world’s best inventions.”
And very importantly, companies are increasingly looking for graduates with powerful thinking and troubleshooting capacity – just the competencies that are developed and nurtured through mathematics.
Additionally, anyone leading a team or department regardless of industry will need to be financially literate and able to manage sometimes substantial budgets.
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