SOUTH AFRICA HAS BEEN RANKED AS WORST IN THE WORLD FOR ITS MATHS AND SCIENCE EDUCATION

South Africa's ranking as worst in the world for its maths
and science education is "a state of emergency", the
opposition has said.
The Democratic Alliance called for a full skills audit of all
maths, science and technology teachers.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) report on information
technology assessed the economies of 148 countries.
But the government has rejected it, saying the findings were
based on perceptions and not hard data.

The World Economic Forum's The Global Information
Technology Report assesses how ready countries are to
exploit the opportunities offered by information and
communications technology and how they can use it to
improve conditions.

For the overall quality of education, South Africa came 146th
in the WEF ranking.
While not all countries were surveyed, South Africa was
ranked below Kenya, Nigeria and Zimbabwe.

Annette Lovemore, shadow minister for basic education,
said her government counterpart, Angie Motshekga, should
answer questions in parliament about the "worsening" state
of education.

"It is deeply disturbing. Not only are we failing hundreds of
thousands of learners in our schools but we are certainly
failing our economy that needs the skills that maths and
science produce," South Africa's Eyewitness News quotes
Ms Lovemore as saying .

Ms Motshekga's Department of Basic Education dismissed
the report as "based on interviews conducted with business
sector executives".

"The WEF report does not base its research on any actual
tests or assessments done by learners, they do not in any
way interact with learners in the system or any credible
education institutions to get their data," the statement said.