Close to 300 Grade 4 to 7 learners from Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape have put their maths skills to the test this weekend.
They participated in the third annual Gibela-WeSolve4x Maths Competition at Nigel Primary School. According to last year’s NSC results, 34% of matriculants wrote pure mathematics, a small fraction wrote technical mathematics, and the majority wrote mathematical literacy in their final school exam.
The initiative aims to move mathematics beyond textbooks by allowing learners to apply their knowledge through practical problem-solving, building confidence and strengthening numeracy skills.
Economic Specialist at Gibela Railway, Karabo Serunye, says this is the company’s way of safeguarding the future of engineering in South Africa.
Serunye says, “We are a manufacturing company so obviously STEM subjects are important to us. We decided to partner with this because we have a pipeline of how we want to see education. Our learners start from grade zero to grade 5. The other project we are funding starts from grade 4 to 7 because we want children to be confident when they get to high school. As Nelson Mandela said, education will unlock opportunities for you.”
CEO of the WeSolve4x Foundation, Tiestsi Ngobese, says they are preparing learners to be future-ready.
“The importance of the competition is to give learners confidence, challenge them beyond their normal classroom, so that they can continue with mathematics beyond grade nine. So that we can have skills when it comes to stem. We mould them as early as grade 4 and move with them to grade 12.”
Gibela Solve 4 X finals inspire young champions
Story by: Thato Letsaba