Tebogo Letlhogile Mogaleemang Puts Back the Zing in Mathematics

A 2012 survey by the UK based Telegraph finds that half of the children in their sample find mathematics and science too difficult or too boring despite seven in ten wanting Maths and science-based careers. David Brockley of the British Royal Society of Chemistry Maths agrees and states that, "Maths does suffer from an image problem.” The situation is no different in Botswana where even amongst the crème de la crème of our students there are many who view Maths as a necessary nuisance towards a better paying job.  Even so, our situation is not assisted by the lack of practical application of the subject beyond the class room in our case.

Maths however, has always been primal in the evolution of man. Anthropological evidence reveals that numeracy predates writing.  As far back as we know Maths, was an evolving tool that was needed for counting and then commerce. It is often joked that the first math problem was most probably about how to share a fire between two or three groups of cavemen and that the second handy approach to the tool was our fingers. Studies reveal that the evolution of mathematics might be seen as an ever-increasing series of abstractions, or alternatively an expansion of subject matter. The earlier uses of mathematics were in trading, land measurement, painting and weaving patterns and the recording of time. More complex mathematics would appear later around 3000 BC, when the Babylonians and Egyptians began using arithmetic, algebra and geometry for taxation and other financial calculations, for building and construction, and for astronomy. The systematic study of mathematics in its own right began with the Ancient Greeks between 600 and 300 BC.

Mathematics has since been greatly extended, and there has been a fruitful interaction between mathematics and science, to the benefit of both. Mathematical discoveries continue to be made today. According to Mikhail Sevryuk, in the January 2009 issue of the Bulletin of the American Mathematical Scociety, "The number of papers and books included in the Mathematical Reviews database since 1940 (the first year of operation of MR) is now more than 1.9 million, and more than 75 thousand items are added to the database each year. The overwhelming majority of works in this ocean contain new mathematical theorems and their proofs."

While Maths is important in the advancement of science and technology and the understanding of the workings of the universe as well as being associated with considerations of curiosity, performance, beauty, playfulness and the transcendence of wisdom, it has still failed to shed off perceptions that it is difficult and boring. However, in our midst there are Maths enthusiasts intent on dispelling the myth that Maths is uncool and charting a path that will see a complete makeover of the loved and dreaded subject. Tebogo Letlhogile Mogaleemang is a young Motswana who prefers to describe himself as an Applied Maths hobbyist with some heavy bias towards the use of mathematics in solving optimization problems in the real world. He was quick to point out that optimization problems are everywhere, and that  mathematical models are essential in guiding informed and verifiable decision making given limited resources in areas such as engineering, finance, economics, statistical data analysis and management. This area of applied mathematics is referred to as Operations Research; its scientific approach to management decisions has some interchangeably calling it Management Science.

 

Maths Wizard Tebogo Letlhogonolo Mogaleemang

 

Mogaleemang graduated with a Master of Engineering Electronics specializing in Telecommunications degree from the University of Southampton (2008) in UK. He has also completed part I and II of BSc (General) where he claims his mathematical skills were horned before going for overseas studies.  I met Mogaleemang by chance early in February at the BIH offices when his appointment with our Custer Development Director, Budzanani Tacheba PhD was called off at the last minute and I was asked to step in. I found Mogaleemang to be talkative and enthusiastic about what he wanted to discuss with BIH.  Within a few minutes of talking to him he sounded like a true ambassador for applied education, especially Maths and Science with his passion palpable in our discussions. He highlighted the importance of mathematics in modeling and solving real world problems in an efficient manner, and how that is important and necessary in supporting management decisions.  He states that he is also a huge advocate of Applied Education and that he is looking forward to participating in this year’s annual Maths and Science fair, and to lend his supporting stimulating early interests in the subjects given their importance in the development of any country. As a student he says he competed in the same fairs and would like to see students getting some practical exposure he never had in his student days. He says one of his ambitions is to see the re-modelling of our education sector to force local institutions to empower students with practical skills for the solution of real world problems and most importantly to address our local socio-economic challenges.

 Management Science is a sub-field of mathematics that deals with the application of advanced analytical methods to assist with effective decision making. The discipline employs techniques from other mathematical sciences, such as mathematical modeling, statistical analysis, and mathematical optimization, operations research to arrive at optimal or near-optimal solutions to complex decision-making problems. Because of its emphasis on human-technology interaction and because of its focus on practical applications, management science research has overlap with other disciplines, notably industrial engineering and operations and operations management, and draws on psychology and organization science. Management Science is often concerned with determining the maximum (of profit, performance, or yield) or minimum (of loss, risk, or cost) of some real-world objective.

Mogaleemang says he saddened by maths Cinderella syndrome when in fact maths is the foundation of science and technology. He wonders why maths is vilified when it holds the key to the world’s problems. He states that Minister of Finance and Development Planning Hon. Kenneth Mathambo alluded to the fact that the 2013 National Budget was prepared in the context of considerable uncertainties in the world economy and that these uncertainties impact negatively on the country’s projections for the domestic economy and government’s revenue in particular. In these circumstances, the Minister emphasized that prioritization must form part and parcel of every dimension of the country’s planning, with the ultimate goal of getting the most from each Pula of expenditure to achieve the priorities. The challenge therefore is an optimization problem given the constraints identified. He cites that it is therefore critical that devise informed strategies to minimize the negative impacts of such constraints on our governance and development objectives given the global economic constraints.   

Mogaleemang reasons that, “Current optimization inefficiencies in our sectors have created a huge demand for Operations Research which requires mathematical skills not present in the current tertiary education setup. Every problem is an actually an optimization problem, there is some inherent duality challenge; lowering costs and maximizing returns all dictated by the state of the environment in which the problem exists” he says.  He maintains that this is the case across many areas such as Network Optimization, Business Analysis, Project Management, Financial Analysis and Economics, Operation Management, Policy Analysis, Decision Making Impact Analysis, Inventory Control and Supply Chain Management. All these could exploit Management Science methods to improve service delivery while lowering costs which will free up capital for both the private sector and the public sector domain. “The solution to the seemingly intractable optimization inefficiency challenges is maths,” he declares with some conceited confidence. He says his focus shifted to this application area of Maths due as he started thinking more about our local service delivery challenges. ‘I am actually just re-using the same mathematical concepts I learnt to model telecommunication challenges as a students. It gives me an opportunity to apply what I have in my education background to address our local challenges. These are skills I can’t use in our local engineering industries.’

 As a patriotic young Motswana imbued with a profound sense of national service, Mogaleemang approached many government departments and Ministry’s offering his services to help the entities address their efficiency challenges. However, the silence of these entities to his proposal speaks volumes about the regard with which they view his peculiar methods to the country’s challenges. They view his proposal as completely unrestrained by reason and judgment and have not been keen to engage him. While frustrated by the cold shoulder he received from some of the government departments he approached with a proposal to assist by substantially increasing the efficiency of their service delivery processes while simultaneously lowering their service delivery costs, he is not deterred by the setbacks as he is inspired by people with exceptional intellectual ability, creativity, originality and unprecedented insights in the likes of Archimedes of Syracuse, Pythagoras of Samos, Leonardo da Vinci and albert Einstein, men of impeccable genius who were thought to be insane at one point or the other.

With a never say die attitude, Mogaleemang has elevated the matter of his rejection by institutions he is convinced need his assistance to the Office of the President and awaits a response. In his correspondence to OP, he has requested an opportunity to demonstrate how the methods are important to governance and can bolster efficiency of diminishing resources. He buttresses his point with the challenge thrown by the Minister of Finance and Development Planning Hon. Kenneth Matambo whose cautionary 2013 Budget Speech emphasized that despite a constrained budget, the country’s strategy is to return to sustained high growth for the benefit of all Batswana while ensuring that the country positioned itself to deal with unforeseeable shocks. “This requires that all our policies should be focused on productivity, competitiveness, and diversification, complemented by well-structured social safety nets,” he said.  

For Mogaleemang, the take home point in the budget speech is for all of us to be efficient in all we do. Our efficiency can be achieved through the application of advanced analytical methods to arrive at optimal solutions to complex decision-making challenges. “It is time we kick start the evolution towards a knowledge based economy, and we can only achieve that if we place higher value in ideas that address our challenges as a nation,” he said.

Mogaleemang has been connected to the Botswana Innovation Hub technology entrepreneurial development programme, First Step Venture Centre Manager, Tshepo Tsheko who appreciates that Mathematics is the scaffolding of science and technology and while impressed with the mathematician’s ideas will have to work with him to make a business case for the brilliant ideas. 

If a business case can be found, the young mathematician will be placed on the programme and hand held in the commercialization of his ideas, meanwhile Mogaleemang continues on his benevolent crusade to put a sparkle on mathematics and make it the subject more appealing to the younger generation. He believes that giving youngsters a solid foundation in Maths, the country’s future is better placed as the younger generation will be better placed to apply Management Science techniques to synergies many government processes in service delivery and policy implementation for the evolution towards a knowledge based economy and tack suck challenges as youth unemployment, stimulate efficiency in service delivery processes, innovation and the evolution towards a knowledge-based economy. 

 

Mathematics