when he attended a Matero Old Boys Association meeting at Matero Boys
Secondary School in Lusaka
THE ZAMBIA Association for Mathematics (ZAME) National chairperson Alvin Masendeka says there is need to improve mathematics performance in schools in order to enhance national development.
Mr Masendeka said the current mathematics performance in the country has not been very good, a situation he said needed urgent attention from all mathematics teachers.
Speaking in Livingstone yesterday during the ZAME national conference which attracted over 350 mathematics teachers from all the ten provinces, Mr Masendeka attributed the declining levels in performance in the subject to among other things change of the curriculum.
“The performance of mathematics across the country on comparative basis to other subjects has gone down. This can be attributed to the change of the curriculum and so as teachers we feel there is need to meet like this and address some of the challenges that the teachers might be facing as a result of this change,” Mr Masendeka said.
He said there was also need for the gap between primary and secondary schools including colleges to be bridged in order to enhance performance.
Mr Masendeka said the gaps among these institutions had given room for the blame game of who was not doing their part properly at different levels of education.
He further said there was need for mathematics teachers at all levels of educating to move at the same pace as mathematics and science were key drivers of the economy as projected in the country’s vision 2030.
And Southern Province Senior Education Standards Officer (SESO) Mathematics Christopher Shatewa said the onus was upon teachers to change the perception that mathematics was a difficult subject.
Mr Shatewa said interventions had since been put in place to change the performance of the subject.
He said as Southern Province, they were trying to re-position themselves as mathematics teachers in order to improve the performance.
“ So the onus is on us as mathematics teachers to change the perception that this subject is difficult. As Southern province, we are trying to re-position ourselves so that the performance can improve,” Mr Shatewa said.
Livingstone institute of Business and Engineering Studies ( LIBES) Principal Thomas Kalatiya said people must stop having the perception that mathematics was difficult because it is the only subject that has never changed from time in memorial.
Mr Kalatiya said mathematics was the same during the ancient times and would still remain the same in many years to come.
Syllabus D ????? Be serious
HH talked about our poor state of education on Monday. This just confirms what HH said. Good thing is, he provided solutions
It is not in Mathematics only that we are struggling. Educational standards have entirely drastically fallen. You want me to cite an example? Just check the headline of this story.
Performance of Mathematics across the Zambia has gone down-ZAME
What does that headline mean? “Mathematics across the Zambia” is not performing?
A well educated editor would have said: “Zambian students’ performance in Maths declines-ZAME”, or perhaps “ZAME says Zambian students doing badly in Maths”
U can’t develop with knowing mathematics and science.Maths and science should be compulsory.If you fail one of the two then u can’t go to college.
your opinion right???? it is bias.
Let me tell you what’s wrong with school worldwide; its your smart phones, facebook, twitter, instagram, whatsapp, youtube, wechat, cable/Dstv, clubs, loose living, laziness and all the foolishness around.
During my time at Kafue boys, we had 100% pass rate in all subjects. Mathematics was fun. We used to sleep in class studying. We had guys reading abbott physics textbooks from cover-to-cover, and at times we were able to even correct teachers on topics like magnetic fields, organic Chemistry, etc.
We didnt even need teachers. We invested in books and not these stupid social networks. Okay, we didnt have such things then. Praise the Lord for that.
What do you expect from kids who spend the whole day and evening on facebook and twitter? Nothing! Thats right.
Have you ever wondered why we have a lot of white collar jobs thefts in the country, especially among those who call themselves as Accountants, it is the same problem of maths. These fellows venture into accounts after several years of repeating maths exams, and after they pass they quickly get into accounts and yet they do not have the principles that govern mathematics, hence usually cornered by Auditors. It is really pathetic the generation of these days how ignorant they are in mathermatics eccumen. You go in Banks, the services are slow and poor, just mare counting notes. Even when one wants to transfer money from one bank to the other, it takes ages. This is all about maths. I have spent months to have money transfered to some Bank in the state…ooh horrible it is
There is so much more we can do to improve these kid’s mathematical tendencies. Most of the people in meet either express a distaste for mathematics or they just confess they cannot fathom the depths and intellectual requirements to memorize BODMAS or understand the intricacies of Calculus.
I am of the opinion, all things begin at home. if we do not push our kids, siblings hard enough towards math and science, the natural way for a lazy mind is to shun that which required the utmost perfection. Also, as parents and elders, we are pretty bad at math. I know some of you, we used to be in the same class and you dropped out of Uni because your ego would not let me help you out. Now look what you have made these kind emulate.
I say we organize a mathematics think-tank were we can make…
It is not only mathematics, the whole school curriculum has gone to the dogs. The standards of 80s & 90s can’t be compared to day. The same with politics & Football, everything is so shoddy. The Zambia we knew is in a mess.
@ Crooked I.
Spot on. Most school leavers are running to useless and market saturated careers mainly due to poor performance in Maths and Sciences.
We continue to have a deficit of Scientist in the country because the majority failed Maths and sciences.
How many neuron-surgeons, pediatricians, cardiologist, urologist, the list is endless do we have in Zambia?
The generation of the likes of doctor Lambart and Francis Manda is slipping away without serious replacement in sight.
Mathematics is about hard work and consistency in practising. You cant get get good grades even with a good curriculum (as much as this is a key fundamental). Our children need to be cultured to work hard. period!
This article has taken math out of the equation and is pounding on it as if it is the panacea to the bad education strategy that has been put in place slowly over the years. We have taught our kids to accept that it is our thieving ways that matter and not genuine hard work. We have also shown them that calculators, and not brains, are what will take them through – and this includes buying them exam papers so that they can masquerade as having passed with flying colors. This thing is systemic. You cannot take a subject out of a sea of other connected things and pretend that is the culprit. I say no to that! By the way, we are also trying to say that the excuse of poor performance is because we have not been teaching in the local language, hence that useless inclusion last year…
Automatic promotion at grade 7,leakages,Zatec,mushrooming universities,distance education policy,100%pass rate in private schools,lack of books in government schools are among several factors contributing.
I have over the years noticed few things about teaching;
1. Most people become teachers because it is one of the jobs one gets appointed to almost immediately after graduation, so they are on the payroll asap. This is true with most professions which government recruits. The first thing is money not interest in the job.
2. Mathematics, like other subjects should be taught in such a way that the knowledge is applied to our daily life activities. Mathematics teachers should find a way of relating, for example, Linear Equations to our daily activities, otherwise it remains an abstract phenomenon, thus why should I learn it if I cannot use it.
3. Teachers of Mathematics should stop being associated with punishment, i.e. when a pupil does not do well in Mathematics.
Leakage abaiche yalibonaula.
Let the ZEC explain
Any wonder why so many so called universities are mushrooming all over our compounds with little to offer in terms of science
and mathematics. This country is never going to progress with
an academic structure that neglects the very foundation of develoment. The pyramids of Giza in Egypt are still standing today
because of the mathematical genius of ancient Pharaohs and its
people. Around here our engineers cannot even dig a simple
storm water drainage system for a 21st century capital city!
The culture of hard work has really gone down in our schools. Back in primary and secondary schools, we competed to outperform our peers so that our names could forever remain written on the walls of the schools we attended as academic greats. Naturally, this culture encouraged us to study to be exceptional at every subject in school. However, it appears the current crop of school going kids are more interested in sex, social media and other fancy things in life at the expense of hard work. To these kids, life is no longer about hard work any more but about working to cheat the system, however they do it!!! Its a shame mother Zambia is moving backwards in everything.
It is not in Mathematics only that we are struggling. Educational standards have entirely drastically fallen. You want me to cite an example? Just check the headline of this story.
Performance of Mathematics across the Zambia has gone down-ZAME
What does that headline mean? “Mathematics across the Zambia” is not performing?
A well educated editor would have said: “Zambian students’ performance in Maths declines-ZAME”, or perhaps “ZAME says Zambian students doing badly in Maths”
Kikikikikikiki! You are soooo right. Just check the postings on this very page
What a load of drivel.
The headline is correct, nothing wrong with it.
Thanks
BB2014
Had that come from educated Zambians we would have been worried but coming from Kambwili’s sister Mushota we know she or he is looking for attention that’s why he/she is commenting on things she/he knows nothing about. The headline is a bloomer. Mushota stick to a subject you know namely prostitution.
Basic school teachers, teachers teaching grade 8 and 9 are the worst. In these schools dull zpc headteachers just give the subject to any teacher closer to them without considering competencies. Dull old zpc H/Trs have brought down the education standards. How?
– they are dull and jealousy of young progressive teachers.
– misplace teachers just to frustrate them. They don’t want any teacher to be praised of good work.
– zpc headteachers feel threatened by young progressive teachers and end up bewitching them and misplace them. Just imagine a teacher with a diploma or degree being given a lower primary grade and G8 & 9 to teach subjects. Teacher are overloaded.
– DEBS offices contribute to all problems above.
– un fair treatment of teachers in some schools.
Children tell us all…
Understaffing in some schools created by DEBS inompetencies in teacher distribution.
Example: Sinazongw district where I visited last year, some schools G1 – 7 like MWEZIA, FISHERIES, MWELA, MAYANDA, AIRPORT and a few others near Maamba are over staffed with 8 to 12 teachers sharing subjects to teach in some classes while other schools with G1 – 7 have 2 to 3 teachers.
Want to prove me wrong? Go there and find out from these schools. DEBS will tell u a lie of accommodation challenges which is not true. Most crowded teachers in selected schools are female for easy reach.
This problem is spread in many districts in Zambia. Let responsible authorities take a survey to ascertain how far is the practise of crowding / overstaffing some schools with female teachers country wide.