The Department of Basic Education and TEACH South Africa signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on February – this agreement has to do with the placement of qualified teachers in different school nationwide.
TEACH Ambassadors, as they’re referred, will be teaching major subjects like maths, science, English and Information Technology (IT).
The signing of MOU comes as a result of a shortage of qualified mathematics teachers in the system.
According to executive director and co-founder for TEACH SA, Richard Masemola – the MOU was deliberated and finalised last year November and carries a mandate which aims to recruit, train and Support University graduates to commit to teaching.
Masemola said this isn’t the first time that the institute has partnered with the DBE, since before they worked together with provincial education department for six years.
“There’s been a massive improvement in the pass rate at schools that had difficulties passing a subject like maths among others.
“Maths, science, English and IT are subjects necessary for the growth of the South African economy. They’re gateway focusses to generate growth and effectively contribute in the National Development Plan (NDP),” said Masemola.
TEACH South Africa recruits and selects top performing young graduates in the field of
Mathematics, Science and English from universities across the country and places them in disadvantaged and rural schools for a minimum period of two years.
Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga has highlighted the importance of offering mathematics in all schools; however, a shortage of qualified mathematics teachers in the system has been a challenge.
Motshekga has welcomed the implementation of this initiative as an important step in the right direction.
“We need to continue to work with our partners in civil society to ensure that we begin to see improvements, not only the numbers of pupils who take up mathematics as a subject, but we also want pupils to come back into the system as qualified mathematics teachers one day.
“We come from a past where not all pupils have had the opportunity to take mathematics as a subject in school, hence the shortage of qualified mathematics teachers today. We need to work hard to ensure that all pupils, no matter their social-economic background have every opportunity available to take up careers of their choice without any limitations,” said Motshekga.
In this partnership the TEACH Ambassadors will be placed in schools that are located mostly in rural areas where it is often difficult to attract qualified mathematics teachers.
TEACH South Africa will provide on-going support to the TEACH Ambassadors throughout the two years.
