Mathematics: Our 13th national language

Reflections from the 2025 Mega Maths festival

By Lieschen Venter

The Mega Maths Festival returned to the University of the Western Cape from 7 to 11 July 2025, drawing together researchers, teachers, students, government officials and industry representatives in a week-long conversation about mathematics as a driver of development. The theme, “Mathematics: Our 13th national language”, invited participants to think about the subject as a shared medium that connects science, technology, and innovation with social and economic outcomes. I attended the Day 2 programme where the focus was on how high-level mathematical sciences can support South Africa’s national priorities, a theme drawn directly from the National Development Plan’s call for integrated policy across education, science, technology, and economic growth.

The day began with the keynote address from Professor Wil Schilders, President of the International Council for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, who has been at the centre of European work measuring the economic impact of mathematical sciences research. His survey of studies from the Netherlands, UK, Spain, and France showed how these countries have quantified the contribution of mathematics and statistics to GDP, productivity, and innovation. The numbers were compelling, but what struck me was how these studies gave policymakers a precise case to work with. In South Africa, we speak often about the importance of mathematics, but rarely with quantified evidence that ties investment directly to outcomes. Without proper impact studies, it is harder to make the argument for sustained, targeted funding.

The keynote flowed into a conversation between representatives from Vodacom, Sanlam, the South African Graduate Employers Association, and Standard Bank. Industry voices spoke about the role mathematical sciences graduates play in areas like automation, quantitative finance, and customer analytics, and about the difficulty of finding enough people with those skills. The bottleneck is not just at the graduate level but stretches back into the schooling system. This is a structural issue that shows up repeatedly where we place significant attention on the most advanced part of the pipeline, yet the flow of learners reaching that point is far too small to meet demand.

After coffee in the Education Faculty foyer, delegates split into different venues. In the main hall, a panel moderated by Emeritus Professor Loyiso Nongxa brought senior officials from Higher Education and Training, Science and Technology, and the National Research Foundation into one conversation, alongside Professor Renuka Vithal from the University of Fort Hare. They outlined their departments’ priorities and where mathematical sciences capacity is critical. The discussion was frank about fragmentation between departments and the uneven quality of preparation learners receive before entering higher education. While all agreed on the value of mathematics, the challenge was how to align strategies so they reinforce rather than work in parallel.

Elsewhere, other rooms tackled different aspects of the problem. AIMSSEC’s capacity building workshops for teachers ran all day, with one strand on pedagogy and another on computational thinking, including a project that turned embroidery patterns into algorithms. In another session, Phillip Dikgomo from the Department of Basic Education argued for aligning interventions in the senior phase to improve teaching, learning, and participation. This phase is a turning point in the system as many learners decide here whether to continue with mathematics, and that decision shapes their future options. I have seen how difficult it is to reverse that decision later, and how much it narrows opportunities in fields that depend on mathematical thinking.

After lunch, I joined the breakaway session on “Mathematical Sciences Fuelling Innovation” with Professors Inger Fabris-Rotelli, Daniel Maposa, and Zurab Janelidze. They spoke about how mathematics and statistics underpin innovation across sectors and the obstacles to making that role visible and effective. A significant part of the discussion centred on the Mathematical Sciences Strategic Alliance, a relatively new initiative bringing together societies with a stake in mathematics, including professional bodies, learned societies, and outreach organisations. The aim is to strengthen collaboration, create a more coherent national voice, and encourage greater membership across these societies. The conversation returned to the lack of coordination where strong projects exist, but they operate in isolation. For me, this is where so much potential is lost. Without mechanisms to connect research outputs to industry needs, and to share expertise across institutions and networks, the system remains fragmented and reactive rather than strategic.

Other breakaways at the same time examined knowledge exchange between universities and other sectors, high-level skills development for the 21st century, and the use of large-scale assessment data such as TIMSS and SACMEQ to guide education policy. By mid-afternoon, the discussions ranged from detailed statistical methods to how teachers can use international assessment data to address gaps in their classrooms. In several of these spaces, delegates also shared accounts of what teaching mathematics looks like when violence, poverty, and chronic under-resourcing shape every lesson. It was a reminder that while the policy and strategy conversations are important, they can feel abstract when the realities at ground level are so entrenched. The difficulty is that the solutions those stories demand often sit outside the mandate of anyone in the room, yet they are inseparable from the question of how to strengthen mathematics education.

Late in the day, the facilitators from the breakaways gathered in Jakes Gerwel Hall for a joint panel moderated by Professor Bruce Watson. One by one, they gave quick snapshots of what had been discussed in their rooms. Whether the topic had been school-level teaching, industry partnerships, or high-level research, the same frustrations kept surfacing. Learners are struggling to make the leap from school to university mathematics, decision-makers don’t know where to find the expertise that already exists, and talented graduates drift away from the field. The problems are not a mystery to anyone in the community. What is missing is a way to turn that shared awareness into a single, coordinated push.

The day ended with the announcement of the FirstRand Empowerment Foundation’s investment in mathematical sciences at historically disadvantaged universities. Professor Nongxa spoke about the importance of strengthening these institutions and described how the foundation plans to direct its support. It was an apt conclusion to a day that had balanced high-level policy discussion with practical examples of teaching, skills development, and applied research.

The day’s programme showed just how many places advanced mathematical sciences touch,  from innovation policy and teacher training to questions about South Africa’s economic competitiveness. The harder part is finding ways to join up the people and organisations working in those spaces so their efforts actually build on each other. That has to be done with a clear view of the fact that mathematics education never happens in isolation. A learner’s progress is shaped as much by safety at home, transport to school, and access to food as it is by the quality of their lessons. For anyone working where modelling, education, and policy meet, this overlap is where the real work starts.

A short video of the festival highlights is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIOehq4qWEs