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Making M4TH5 count

Maths professors appointed to lead a R30-million project to improve maths results.

The FirstRand Foundation and RMB Fund recently announced the names of the first two out of a possible six university professors who will take the lead in “Making M4TH5 Count”, a R30-million project designed to improve famously poor maths results in South Africa’s secondary schools.

The selected chairs, as the professors are known in education circles, are: Jill Adler, professor at Wits University, and currently the director of the Marang Centre for Mathematics and Science Education as well as the chair of Mathematics Education, Kings College, London; and Rhodes University professor Marc Schafer, head of the university’s education department.

“There is a national crisis in the quality of maths education in South Africa and so we have created and funded an opportunity for experts to make a positive difference,” says FirstRand Foundation trustee Mamokgethi Setati, a professor at Unisa.

“As a financial services group, good maths results are a subject close to FirstRand’s heart as we employ suitably qualified maths students on a sustainable basis,” says FirstRand Banking Group CE and FirstRand Foundation chairman Sizwe Nxasana.

“Making M4TH5 Count” is a five-year project with a R30-million budget, funded by the FirstRand Foundation, the RMB Fund and the Department of Science & Technology, which has agreed to contribute R500 000 of each chair’s annual subsidy of R2-million. A maximum of six chairs will be appointed on an ongoing basis, as and when stringent criteria are met.

The chairs objectives are: to improve the quality of teaching and learner performance at secondary schools, to research sustainable and practical solutions to South Africa’s maths problem; and to provide leadership and increase dialogue in maths education.

The chairs, who will work with at least 10 schools in a specific region, have measurable annual targets including delivering successful training, raising the matric maths pass rate by 10% on average a year as well as increasing the quality of pass rates.

“As an investment bank aspiring to do good business and good work, RMB is particularly committed to this Public-Private Partnership which aims to be a potential contributor to SA’s global competitiveness, as well as a source of highly qualified maths talent for the financial services industry,” says RMB CE Alan Pullinger.

Ends

Notes:

The FirstRand Foundation is the dedicated corporate social investment arm of the FirstRand Group (including RMB, FNB, Momentum and WesBank). Operating under an independent board of trustees, the Foundation has made R94 million available for community development work in 2009. The Foundation’s constituent RMB Fund concentrates its work on maths education; arts, culture and heritage; and selected environmental work. The FirstRand Foundation is managed by Tshikululu Social Investments (www.tshikululu.org.za).

Contact

Yvette Nowell, Rand Merchant Bank on +27 11 282 4648 or Sarah Morrison, Tshikululu Social Investments on +27 11 377 7322

Issued by: Rand Merchant Bank

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