Maths and Science Matriculation Support Programme

The Maths and Science Matriculation Support Programme is specially aimed at enabling students to perform well in these so-called difficult subjects. The programme has been in existence since 1990, reaching and assisting thousands of disadvantaged matriculants all over the country. The programme can be best described by way of three key aspects:

Firstly, the material we make available to each student is learner-centred. What does this mean? It means that the material we place in the hands of our matriculants is different from that in a textbook. It is deconstructed text and is not dependent on external facilitation. The material has been designed in such a way that it makes the learning-field accessible and interesting to the end-user. Also, the contents cover a very wide spectrum of learning-field-specific information, including information at foundation level so that all learners can indeed develop a workable knowledge of Maths and Science. This is what we want learners to achieve: not to learn by rote, but to learn how to apply newly acquired knowledge to problem-solving. Each learner is in possession of the following package of material:

• Passport to Learning, which describes the methodology of learning together in
• small groups and other aspects of intelligent studying
• Passport to Physical Science
• Passport to Algebra
• Passport to Geometry and Trigonometry

Secondly, learning takes place through team learning. We all know what team spirit can achieve in sport. If it can do it in sport, why not in Maths and Science? By forming teams, with the material as the source of stimulation and the core information, learning becomes an adventure that extends itself automatically beyond the confines of the classroom. Through this programme learners have the opportunity, figuratively speaking, to run with the ball and proceed at their own pace. From experience this is the kind of challenge that learners thrive on — and within such a learner-focused programme our students have every opportunity to excel.

Thirdly, Maths and Science teachers welcome the fact that learners can now learn and progress on their own, reinforcing what is being done in the classroom. In this way the teacher takes on the role of co-learner and facilitator of the learning process.

The Maths and Science Matriculation Support Programme was formally sponsored in 2003/4 by Eskom (national intervention) and by Vodacom in 2006 (in two provinces, viz. the Eastern Cape and Limpopo).