Scrapping compulsory maths has dire consequences for SA accountants
The South African Institute of Professional Accountants (SAIPA) has criticised government’s move to repeal maths as a compulsory requirement for accounting and science at schools.
This follows a Government Gazette notice published on 21 July, in which the department of basic education called for written submissions on the scrapping of the mathematics as a compulsory requirement when electing to study accounting and physical sciences in Grades R – 12.
However, the removal of the requirement is likely to have dire consequences – both for students as well as the accounting profession South Africa, said Faith Ngwenya, technical executive at Saipa.
“You can never be an accountant if you do not understand maths,” she said.
She indicated that mathematics not only deals with understanding calculations but also helps build skills in concrete reasoning, spatial reasoning, and logical reasoning.
Ngwenya also said that there was currently a shortage of qualified accountants in South Africa and that the proposed changes would only exacerbate this problem further.
“Rather than eliminating the subject because of bad results, the government should look at the way teachers are remunerated. We need good quality educators.
“We are living in a world of measurements. We have to measure lengths, areas, volumes and weights. We have to fix timings, prices, wages, rates, percentages, targets and exchanges,” Ngwenya said.
Department spokesperson Troy Martens indicated that the changes were made to prevent subject choices limiting career opportunities.
“What we found, when we made the provision originally, is that in making students take mathematics with accounting it tended to exclude people,” she said.
“The changes were made to accommodate students who were looking at more administrative accounting and entering degrees such as a BCom Marketing.”
Read: Government wants to scrap compulsory maths for accounting and science
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