By Thapelo Molefe
The Basic Education Department has revealed that 462 public high schools across the country do not offer maths.
This disclosure that has sparked concern in Parliament over education inequality and the future prospect of learners in a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) driven economy.
This was laid bare in the department’s fourth quarterly report for the 2024/25 financial year, presented to the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education this week.
MPs expressed alarm, warning that the failure to provide Mathematics in hundreds of schools amounted to a systemic denial of opportunity.
“These 462 schools are only offering Mathematical Literacy. There is no Mathematics, there is no Technical Mathematics in these schools,” said Seliki Tlhabane, the department’s chief director for maths, science and technology.
The problem is not new.
Data presented by the department shows that the number of schools without maths has remained stubbornly high over the past four years. They were 473 in 2021, 463 in 2022, and 462 in both 2023 and 2024.
“Out of these 462 schools, 427 were found to be small and non-viable… some are multi-grade schools, farm schools and schools that had fewer than 69 learners in Grade 12,” Tlhabane explained.
“These enrolment figures fall short of policy requirements that call for a minimum of 35 learners per class stream, making it “impossible to offer both Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy in such schools”.
A provincial breakdown showed that KwaZulu-Natal with 136 schools, the Eastern Cape with 97 and Limpopo with 78, accounted for the largest number of schools without Mathematics.
The Western Cape, although better resourced, still recorded 61 such schools, many of them in urban metro areas such as Metro Central and Metro North.
During the meeting, the department’s director-general, Mathanzima Mweli, acknowledged the severity of the issue and stressed the department’s intent to address it through evidence-based, community-sensitive interventions.
“We recognise the frustration, but we must also deal with the reality on the ground,” Mweli said.
“The majority of these schools are not viable. Many of them have been affected by migration patterns, parents leave rural areas in search of work and learner numbers drop. This impacts the number of teachers allocated and the subjects that can be offered.”
Mweli added that the department was working closely with provinces to merge small schools, improve scholar transport and ensure learners were placed in schools where full subject offerings, including Mathematics, were available.
Committee members were deeply troubled by the implications.
Committee chairperson Khomotjo Maimela warned that learners in poor and rural communities were being systematically excluded from gateway subjects.
“If a learner wants to do Mathematics, they don’t have that choice because the only school nearest to them does not offer it,” Maimela said. “This is about access and equity. We are reproducing disadvantage by location.”
Several committee members also criticised the department for reporting only on Grade 12 data, arguing that subject stream decisions occurred as early as Grade 10.
Maimela and others demanded full learner data from earlier grades to understand the full scale of the problem and to prevent learners from being steered into limited subject choices due to structural deficiencies.
In response, Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube acknowledged that the situation was “deeply concerning” and that the department must act decisively.
“We are not sitting back and allowing children in affected communities to be left behind,” Gwarube told MPs.
“While some schools have become unviable, we are actively working on strategies to merge schools, introduce hostels and provide scholar transport”.
She emphasised that the department’s focus was increasingly shifting toward building a strong foundation in Mathematics and Literacy from the early grades, to ensure pupils were confident and equipped to pursue STEM subjects in high school and beyond.
“The bigger injustice is when children fear taking Mathematics or are discouraged by teachers because they lack a strong foundation. That’s why we are focusing on foundational learning as a key solution,” GwaRube added.
Despite reassurances, the hard reality persists that 462 schools still do not provide access to Mathematics, effectively limiting the academic and career paths of thousands of learners.
The department has committed to delivering a full list of affected schools to Parliament and accelerating measures to resolve the issue.
“This is not acceptable, and it cannot be allowed to continue. We must ensure that every learner in South Africa has a right to choose their future and that begins with the ability to choose Mathematics,” Mweli said.
INSIDE EDUCATION
