According to The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 27% of students who have attended school for six years cannot read. After five years of school, only about half can do basic mathematics. Only 37% of children starting school in grade 1 go on to pass the matriculation exam, and just 4% earn a degree.
The South African Government Gazette recently published a list of 142 critical skills needed in the country, all related to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects. As experienced during the response to COVID-19, technology is a powerful tool to increase the resilience of our societies and promote growth. Innovations are powering the fourth industrial revolution and have become indispensable for thriving in a fast-changing world with new and emerging challenges and opportunities. These technological innovations have something in common: they are anchored on solid scientific knowledge, cutting-edge technology, and advanced engineering and mathematical skills, which can be acquired through STEM education and training.
Over the last three decades, a global wave of market liberalisation has led some nations to enhance how they master and utilise STEM as critical economic growth, development, and security determinants. In response, most African countries have developed national policies that promote STEM education. Though educational policies that encourage STEM education are often coherent with national development visions, there is often a gap between policy and practice. As a result, African countries still fall behind in STEM education outputs compared to the rest of the world. Moreover, the lack of implementation of STEM plans in African countries has further exacerbated the economic development gap between Africa and the rest of the world, undermining African countries’ innovation capacities. One of the main challenges for implementing these plans is that most of Africa’s education and training programs through which STEM fields are taught suffer from inequalities and exclusion at all levels, poor resourcing, inadequate teacher development programs, limited access to electricity and internet, and inadequate infrastructure for STEM teaching and learning.
In support of STEM studies and to aid in the engineering future of South Africa, ACTOM has been actively involved in upliftment projects and educational support in their local communities. ACTOM offers the top students from the Katlehong Engineering School of Specialisation, Sizwe Secondary School and Erasmus Monareng Secondary School personal tutoring and mentoring services in STEM subjects. “Because we are actively involved in the STEM industry and cognisant of the critical skills our country needs, we look at the bigger picture of ensuring the students will be able to further their careers and complete their studies”, said Sylvester Makamu, HR Executive, ACTOM.
In 2019, ACTOM adopted the Katlehong Engineering School of Specialisation (SoS) into their STEM programme. The programme is so successful that the School Principal praised his learners’ and teachers’ hard work and dedication in a recent radio interview. Since entering the STEM tutoring initiative, the matric average of the top 20 learners has increased by 43%. At the beginning of 2023, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga praised the class of 2022 for obtaining a record 80.1% matric pass rate. This is a remarkable feat for children who sometimes have to be parents as well. According to Mr Daniel Malindi, Head of Department, “The ACTOM group learners have had an above-average increase of 43% for maths since inception, and we are incubating this group as a pivotal control group. We have purposefully structured our second group by teaching them Technical Mathematics and will, for this reason, be incorporated into ACTOM’s training centres as Artisans. Once they have completed their studies, these young people will find employment in ACTOM’s various divisions.”
Sizwe Secondary School has faced numerous challenges in the last 18 months since the inception of the STEM programme. At a recent press conference, Mr Matome Chiloane, MEC for Gauteng Education, said: “Sizwe High School is one of 75 prioritised schools out of 245 in the province identified as high-risk.” This statement was made during Mr Chiloane’s visit to the school as part of his “Operation Kgutla Molao” in October 2023. According to the Department of Education, the operation is a safety strategy recently launched by the MEC in reaction to reports of safety concerns at Gauteng schools.
With all the students’ challenges, the top 20 Grade 12 STEM students from Sizwe Secondary School remarkably increased their matric pass rate. The ACTOM-elected Tutors assist 45 learners with Physics and Mathematics and 35 with mathematics and accounting in Grade 11.
Within the Grade 12 group at Sizwe Secondary School, they assist 45 learners in Physics and Mathematics and 20 with mathematics and accounting. According to Mr David Khoza, Principal of Sizwe Secondary School, “I have definitely seen a sharp increase since ACTOM’s involvement with my school and am very proud to say that the Matriculants’ average pass rate has increased from 45% in 2021 to 90% in 2022” and added, “we are looking forward to the 2023 results”.
The Erasmus Monareng Secondary School, based in Vosloorus, entered the ACTOM STEM programme in 2013. They offer the top 20 students from Grades 11 and 12 the opportunity to be tutored in mathematics and physics. The school has seen an increase of 36% in mathematics and a 26 % increase in physics.
As it is a celebratory year, ACTOM recently hosted scholars from Sizwe Secondary School and Katlehong Engineering School of Specialisation at their 120-year celebration in Johannesburg. The Top 20 Students from each school were awarded a Certificate of Excellence by Makamu on the day, with spirits high. ACTOM has employed a third party, “Gradesmatch”, to assist these matriculants with their applications to tertiary establishments.
The need for the private sector to partner with the government to create innovative models to address this crisis is increasingly apparent by following ACTOM’s example.