Mathematics Learning of Rwandan and South African Grade 6 Learners

Jean Francois Maniraho – University of Rwanda, College of Education, Rwanda & Iben Maj Christiansen – University of Stockholm
Corresponding Author: jmaniraho2@gmail.com

Received December 2, 2019; Revised July 20, 2020; Accepted July 22, 2020

Abstract: A substantial body of literature exists on learning and how it is related to learners’ backgrounds and the type and quality of teaching they experience. Most studies compare the learners’ test results before and after an intervention or a period of teaching (Aungamuthu & Christiansen, 2013). Yet, differences in scores cannot be understood without also considering what Aungamuthu and Christiansen refer to as the ‘stability’ of their answers. The data used in this paper were collected in 2009 and 2013 in South Africa and Rwanda respectively, and has been analyzed using the Excel and SPSS software packages. In the Rwandan context, 638 grade six learners participated on both pre- and post-tests at the beginning and at end of the school year, whereas 1211 South Africa learners participated on the same Tests. The results show that Rwandan learners did better at the beginning of grade 6 than the South African learners, in the more basic numeracy questions which fall into the second and third SACMEQ numeracy levels. The Rwandan learners improved their scores substantially more than the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) learners with 9.2. and 2.9 percentage points improvement respectively, which implies that the Rwandan learners learnt more in their grade six studies compared to their South African counterparts. It could be feasible to interrogate teaching in both countries in our coming papers to understand more about these differences in learning improvements.