Abstract

Musonda J. Kolobe

Mathematics and Science education is very important for any nation to realise meaningful economic
development. Most studies looking at this important aspect of education focus on post primary to
tertiary education leaving the primary level which is a foundation for those levels making the story
incomplete. This study explored the dynamics of primary school teaching of Mathematics and Science
with respect to the subject matter content knowledge for Mathematics and Science by the pre-service
and in-service primary school teachers in Lesotho. The study assessed the Mathematics and Science
subject content of 85 first-year pre-service teachers at the College of Education and 22 in-service as
reflected in their scores in the national examinations at three levels: Primary School Leaving Education,
Junior Certificate and Cambridge School Certificate. This was followed by a questionnaire to assess
their views on subject specialisation as a remedy for poor performance. The results revealed that there
are some teachers who have never passed Mathematics and Science at any level of education
examined nationally, thus making it difficult and uncomfortable for these teachers to teach these
subjects effectively as demonstrated by 14% of the in-service teachers. A large majority (77%)
recommended the introduction of subject specialisation to commence at primary school level in order
to improve Mathematics and Science performance.