In South Africa there are ordinary schools and special schools - NSC Mathematical Literacy - Question 4 - 2016 - Paper 2

In 2014, the number of teachers from the Eastern Cape is given as 61 260, while the total number of teachers is 390 608. The probability P of randomly selecting a teacher from the Eastern Cape is:

$P = \frac{61 260}{390 608} \approx 0.1568$ Thus, the probability is approximately 15.68%.

Given the total number of learners from the table for the provinces, we can set up the equation:

$A = 12 117 015 - (1 889 307 + 656 408 + 1 944 486 + 2 831 311 + 1 034 151 + 284 908 + 784 184 + 1 026 744)$

Calculating the sum:

$A = 12 117 015 - 10 451 499 \approx 1 665 516$

To verify the teacher's statement, calculate the teacher-to-learner ratios. Based on the data:

• Independent schools have 34 482 teachers and 538 421 learners, giving a ratio of:

$\frac{34 482}{538 421} \approx 1 : 15.6145$

• Meanwhile, public schools have 390 608 teachers and 12 117 015 learners, resulting in a ratio of:

$\frac{390 608}{12 117 015} \approx 1 : 31.029$

Since 1 : 15.6145 is better than 1 : 31.029, the teacher's statement is valid.

One possible reason for the increase in the number of learners in ordinary schools could be the annual increase in the learners' population each year. Another reason could be a transfer of learners from special schools to ordinary schools.