LOST OPPORTUNITIES: Dropping pure maths betrays a generation of girls

EVERY time a school removes pure mathematics, a girl who could have been an engineer, scientist or innovator is told: “This path is not for you.”

- DR SIZILE ZAMANDLOVU MAKOLA

Mathematics is more than a subject on the timetable. It is the entry ticket to careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), the very fields where South Africa struggles with skills shortages and where women remain underrepresented.

When public schools, particularly those serving disadvantaged communities, quietly drop mathematics and offer only mathematical literacy, the impact goes far beyond curriculum.

It is a structural decision that narrows opportunities, reinforces stereotypes, and undermines years of effort to encourage girls into technical fields.

In my own research on the factors that encourage girls to choose STEM subjects, I found four critical enablers: early confidence through exposure, parental encouragement, the promise of prosperity and the presence of role models. Each is weakened when mathematics is removed from the school timetable.