Exploring the root cause of poor performance in Maths and Science education and the impact to the South African economy

Abstract

The South African economy is not competitive in the global context. The inadequate number of skilled people in the Maths and Science arena is central to the structural unemployment and limited growth prospects in certain sectors such as manufacturing, technology and engineering. The big question is why? The answer is poor performance in Maths and Science at the school level. Maths and Science is a critical element towards economic recovery, especially in an ever increasing competitive global environment. It stimulates economic equality and opportunity for all whilst eliminating the disparities in the skills shortage and reducing adverse poverty.This study is aimed at discovering the root cause of poor performance in Maths and Science education, Secondly to explore the interaction between the poor performance and economic performance and lastly to use the vicious cycle of poverty study to enhance the research and provide more insight into the dynamics of the problem.The research was informed by the principles of qualitative methodology. The reasons for the poor performance were given by past learners of Maths and Science and the impact to the South African economy given by specialists. The interaction of the two was used to create a model incorporating all the learning.