It’s no wonder that almost twice as many high school pupils from Grahamstown and the surrounds entered the second ever RU Mathematics Experience competition.
It’s no wonder that almost twice as many high school pupils from Grahamstown and the surrounds entered the second ever RU Mathematics Experience competition.
Besides offering young boffins a fun challenge, three Rhodes University scholarships were also up for grabs, among other prizes.
On Friday, 15 February, 375 learners from almost every high school in the Grahamstown Education District gathered at the Barratt lecture theatre complex for an afternoon of ‘serious fun’ mathematics.
Participants spent the first hour answering a set of 20 questions requiring ‘out of the box’ rather than conventional thinking.
This was followed by a talk by Dr Mike Mhlolo of the FRF Mathematics Education Chair who entertained and inspired the learners while teachers marked their question papers.
The afternoon ended with deputy dean of science at Rhodes Prof Makaiko Chithambo awarding the prizes, which included three full scholarships to study at Rhodes, generously provided by the dean of science.
The event is fast gaining a reputation in mathematics education circles and is being replicated at centres throughout the country.
It was organised by a group of enthusiastic Rhodes academics and local teachers who felt that the mathematical talent of local pupils needed to be stimulated.
This is in line with recent policy shifts which have identified the need to improve the quality of maths education in South African schools.
The event was sponsored by the South African Mathematics Foundation, the Department of Science and Technology, Rhodes University and the FRF Mathematics Education Chair.
At the closing ceremony, the chair of the organising committee, Andrew Stevens, explained that one of the main purposes of the event is to identify hidden talent among local pupils and to continue developing this talent through a structured programme in the coming months as part of the ‘Siyanqoba’ initiative of the SA Mathematics Foundation.
Stevens remarked that the International Mathematics Olympiad would be hosted by South Africa for the very first time in 2014 and he hoped that some of the pupils present might be in the national team.
