Schoolgirls from 25 Cape Flats high schools attended the Women in Mathematics convention at a Cape Town hotel last week.
Started in 2007, the Women in Mathematics programme supports girls doing pure maths at Cape Flats high schools.
At the convention, various professionals spoke to the girls about how they used maths in their careers and they encouraged them to work hard to achieve their goals.
Spes Bona, Alexander Sinton, Belgravia, Modderdam, Manenberg, Al-Azhar, and Ned Doman high schools were among those represented at the convention.
The programme’s founder, Professor Shaheed Hartley, said it had been born out of his research at Cape Flats high schools, which had found that often girls were not exposed to careers available to them, shied away from pure maths in favour of maths literacy, and did not understand the role that maths played in various careers.
“We’ve got different role models here working in science and maths fields to talk to pupils and tell them how maths played an important role in their lives. To also speak about where they come from and what they’ve achieved. Pupils can identity with the challenges they spoke about in life and maths and how they overcame it.”
Manenberg High School Grade 11 Kamesha Hendricks said the convention motivated pupils to acehieve their goals. “More schools should be able to experience this. It is beneficial to our mindsets,” she said.
Al-Azhar High School maths teacher Najma Schroeder said that the talks had helped the pupils decide on which careers to follow.
“Female pupils really need something like this to happen earlier in their high school careers. Maths is very challenging at school. The curriculum has a changed a lot, and pupils’ loads are hectic. They should just slow down and enhance the subject. I think if we can lessen the load on pupils, perhaps we will get more out of them.”
Lansdowne chartered accountant Fazlin Orrie said the speakers came from many of the same communities as the girls and that helped to encourage them to pursue their dreams.
“I know many girls have different struggles and challenges but can still come far. This programme motivates pupils to overcome their challenges. Many pupils drop maths and science because they don’t have enough support structures. Many of their environments are challenging and they don’t see a way out of it. The generation today is also about the easy way out, many don’t realise that it’s hard work to get where you want to be.”