Why the maths decline narrative must change

Ifwe remain within the Western mirror, we find only disappointment

- DUMISANI TSHABALALA

THERE are moments in public discourse that echo inside a cave, a sound so repeated and unexamined that it begins to feel like revelation simply because it is familiar.

The annual lament about the decline of mathematics and physical science in South Africa is one such echo. Each year, a new study is announced with great urgency; each year, a crisis is declared, as if for the first time. Yet if we pay close attention to the decades-long patterns of schooling in this country, we notice that this is not news. The problem with the echoing noise is not that the warnings are entirely wrong. The difficulty is that this noise continues to arise from a vantage point that can see only deficit and never possibility, a vantage point I shall call - borrowing the language of metaphor - “the Western mirror”.

In this mirror, South African learners appear as faded reflections of an ideal norm; learners who should have mastered early numeracy, experienced coherent teaching, and progressed through schools that function like those in affluent parts of the world. But this mirror hides more than it reveals. Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube, in her speech announcing the 2025 matric results last week, was unafraid to address public pressure to improve the country’s educational outcomes.

“People ask about ‘quick wins,” she said. “But real reform in a system this size cannot be PR-led. It is deep work that succeeds only when leadership lines up resources, accountability, trust and data behind one clear direction: strengthening the foundations of learning”

She minister noted that the National Education and Training Council (NETC), established in 2025, is now reviewing assessment and progression policies across Grades R to 12 to ensure that expectations are clear, support is provided earlier, and learning gaps do not compound by the time learners reach matric.