In pursuit of excellence in mathematics and statistics at South Africa’s public universities, the National Graduate Academy for Mathematical and Statistical Sciences – NGA(MaSS) presented its concept, objectives and goals to the Board of Directors of Universities South Africa (USAf) at their recent ordinary meeting.
Professor Loyiso Nongxa (right), Professor Emeritus at the University of the Witwatersrand and the Chairperson of the NGA(MaSS) Strategy and Steering Committee, addressed the USAf Board meeting, which was attended by all Vice-Chancellors of South Africa’s 26 public universities or their proxies.
He explained that the NGA(MaSS), founded in 2017 in terms of paragraph 38 of the Higher Education Act, 103 of 1997, was established with the aim of pooling expertise and resources around the training of the next generation of mathematicians, statisticians and data scientists who will serve the national system of innovation in future. Membership of the NGA (MaSS) is open to all public universities in South Africa.
By presenting the NGA(MaSS) to the USAf Board, Professor Nongxa said he was looking to solicit the support of the vice-chancellors (VCs) for the consortium, adding that some of its professional development programmes, such as the Research Training Networks or Academic Staff Development, required institutional support at the highest decision-making levels, to succeed.
Professor Nongxa was particularly seeking the support of VCs of historically disadvantaged institutions (HDIs) for the interventions specifically aimed at strengthening mathematical sciences at HDIs. These interventions were put in place to address, among other challenges of HDIs, the number of staff with PhDs in Mathematics or Statistics. Available data also demonstrated high attrition at HDIs between student numbers enrolling in mathematical sciences and their graduation.
According to Professor Nongxa, examples of remedial interventions available to HDIs were joint teaching of common postgraduate courses; improvement of staff qualifications, given that the NGA(MaSS) provides opportunities for academics to register for higher degrees/qualifications and joint development of thematic M.Sc qualifications, such as Mathematics for the 4th Industrial Revolution. The NGA(MaSS) also provides staff development in strategic and vulnerable disciplines, exposes staff to new trends and future directions of Mathematics and Statistics, while fuelling innovative practices across the board.
The esteemed mathematician said the NGA (MaSS) had notched a few milestones in support of public universities since its inception in 2017. Through a memorandum of understanding signed with the USAf Office for joint fundraising for student bursaries in the second half of 2020, the Academy had raised R5million worth of bursaries from the Education, Training and Development Practice Sector Education and Training Authority (ETDP SETA) and R40million in staff development bursaries. The NGA(MaSS) had also provided more than 60 staff buyout grants for academics in their final year of PhD. Professor Nongxa explained that when an academic in the mathematical sciences is in the final year of their PhD, they can apply to the NGA(MaSS) for a grant that would help them take a short sabbatical of six months. The grant allocated to the home department would be used to employ a replacement staffer to take over their teaching workload. The NGA(MaSS) also provided grants for young academics that enabled them to attend both local and international conferences, while providing mobility grants that enabled PhD candidates enrolled at different institutions from their supervisors to travel for supervisory consultations.
The former VC said the NGA(MASS) firmly believed that a properly qualified next generation of mathematicians was essential for quality mathematical sciences education from early childhood development right up to PhD levels. That is why the NGA (MASS) was soliciting VCs’ support to promote cooperation and collaboration – rather than competition — in areas such as postgraduate students training, especially at institutions with smaller post-graduate programmes.
In conclusion, Professor Nongxa said the support of VCs was critical to the attainment of the NGA(MASS) objectives.
Professor Sizwe Mabizela, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Rhodes University, who disclosed that he was the current Chair of the NGA (MASS), said he was in full support of the idea of universities working together in strengthening mathematics teaching. Professor Nongxa’s presentation was widely well received, with Professor Andrew Crouch, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Sol Plaatje University and Chairperson of the Teaching and Learning Strategy Group (TLSG) suggesting that this discussion be continued in the Community of Practice for the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics, which reports to the TLSG.
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