Father makes maths fun and easy
With the aim of making mathematics fun and easy, retired teacher Thomas Makhubele, hosted a maths festival at his mathematics studio he runs out of his garage in Flora Park, Tzaneen.
LIMPOPO – More than 50 Gr 12 learners from local schools took part in the festival which lasted the entire Sunday and involved several fun problem-solving activities to pique the learners’ interest in mathematics as well as give them a starting edge in the subject.
“The maths festival aims to explore all the richness and beauty of the subject while making it fun and easy. I host these events every term and my overall mission is to debunk the myth that mathematics is a difficult subject,” he said.
For the purpose of hosting the event, Makhubele turned his garage into a modern classroom, fitted with a white board, overhead projector and computer technology for online and video instruction.
“Today we tackled problems on financial mathematics, one of the newest sections in the school syllabus. Many teachers are slightly intimidated by this section as it wasn’t something they learned during their studies at university or college,” Makhubele said.
The learners participated actively during the lessons and were provided with breakfast and lunch during the festival to help keep their minds sharp. A former teacher at Zivuko Secondary School in Mariveni village near Tzaneen, Makhubele quit his job two years ago and turned his garage into a top notch school called Songa Rigogo.
It offers year-long extra mathematics classes to learners after school and on weekends.
“Since I resigned as a teacher, I am now free to help learners understand mathematics without the hindrance of an administrative workload and the politics often prevalent in a school environment. I love mathematics and teaching so much I don’t even have time for leisure activities,” he said.
