Since 1995, South African grade-nine learners consistently performed poorly while Singapore grade-eight learners stayed at the top in the same Trends in International Mathematics and Science (TIMSS) studies (Spaull & Kotze, 2015; TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, 2019). However, South African and Singapore grade-twelve learners still need to participate in the TIMSS Advanced Mathematics studies (National Centre for Education Statistics, n.d.-b). That prompted the need for this correlational study that comparatively investigated the difference and the relationship among school-related resources availability, accessibility, and utilisation compared to learner-achievement in IBDP 2 Mathematics AA learners in South Africa and Singapore.
The IBDP schools in Singapore were selected through stratified and simple random sampling, while all IBDP schools in South Africa were part of the main study sample. The IBDP 2 Mathematics AA learners were selected through systematic random sampling. Simple random sampling was also used to select one field test school in South Africa. The current study had a sample size of eight schools and 198 learners, where three schools and 98 learners (52 standard level and 46 higher level learners) were from South Africa, and five schools and 100 learners (50 standard level and 50 higher level learners) were from Singapore. A 170-item questionnaire was used to collect data, and the items were mainly adopted from TIMSS Advance 2025. The instrument used to collect data was reliable and valid. Reliability was tested in the PSPP statistics program, giving Cronbach alpha of 1.0 overall. The validity of the questionnaire was tested in the PSPP statistics program, using a two-tailed test bivariate correlation at α = 0.05, where 93% of the questionnaire items were valid. Results indicated a positive relationship: In South Africa – Availability (R = 0.60, R2 = 0.37, and F =3.66 at α = 0.05, p = 0.000); Accessibility (R = 0.58, R2= 0.33, and F = 3.91 at α = 0.05, p = 0.000); and Utilisation (R = 0.65, R2 = 0.43, and F = 3.08 at α = 0.05, p = 0.000). While in Singapore was only Accessibility (R = 0.58, R2 = 0.34, and F =3.58 at α = 0.05, p = 0.001). All positive relationships observed were unreliable as their coefficient of determination (R2) was very low (R2 ˂ 50%). Furthermore, no significant differences were found in both countries’ availability, accessibility, and utilisation of school-related resources, except in Mathematics achievement (p = 0.000 ˂ α = 0.05).
The differences in performance could be a result of other factors. It is recommended that South Africa invest more in pedagogical practice and other educational areas than the school curriculum or resources. Research on pedagogical approaches in IBDP schools should be considered in the future. Further research is needed that will improve the survey questions’ reliability levels. Although confirmed, the data’s validity and reliability were compromised by the COVID-19 restrictions during data collection. Therefore, the results should be cautiously inferred and could only be inferred from the population studied, IBDP learners in South Africa and Singapore.