SA quits top maths test

2007-04-22 13:01

Johannesburg - South Africa has pulled out of an international maths test in which it has twice come last, the Sunday Times reported.

The department of education has said it did not want to "over-test" pupils by subjecting them to the 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Studies test, which South African pupils flunked in 1999 and 2003, the last years in which it was held.

The respected study, carried out every four years, measures global performances in maths and sciences.

In 1999, South Africa came last out of 38 countries; in 2003, it bottomed a table of 50.

A senior education official told the Sunday Times that pupils would already undergo one domestic and one Southern and Eastern African regional test this year and that the department did not want to "over-test" the pupils.

- SAPA