Studying maths and science? Get ready to teach it

There have been mixed reactions from teacher unions to a proposal by the department of science and technology to force maths and science graduates to do mandatory community service to teach these subjects in government schools currently battling with skills shortages.

Science and Technology Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane reportedly said she hoped it would become compulsory for graduates who studied at publicly funded universities.

It would encourage them to give back to the community and even consider a career in teaching thereafter. She said: “Why should we battle to find maths and science teachers in this country when there are people that have done maths and science at public universities?”

The proposal reportedly comes after a study conducted in March revealed that maths and science teachers failed to pass simple tests in their areas of teaching, some scoring less than 10% in English and 5% in maths.

South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) spokesperson Nkosana Dolopi said the union welcomed this as it “makes sense”.

He said if government offered financial or developmental assistance to the graduates during their studies, it would be expected they give back to the community, as taxpayers who contributed to their learning experience would be the same people they would be serving.

National Teachers’ Union (Natu) spokesperson Allen Thompson also welcomed the proposal. He said the proposal would see that more graduates were employed and working in their field of study as opposed to adding to the country’s high unemployment rate.

“We [as a union] have always welcomed the idea of a teacher intern and if the proposal is eventually approved we [would] also encourage the government to work out a proper salary structure.

National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) spokesperson Thirona Moodley said the benefits of the proposal for both government and the graduates had to be looked into, because several medical graduates remained unemployed.

– jenniffero@citizen.co.za