Understanding Mathematics Makes For Healthier, Happier Living -Ale

We are here to conduct a workshop for the South South geopolitical zone on Mathematics, and the Federal Ministry of Education sponsored the programme under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). You know people have problems teaching and learning Mathematics, but the subject is so useful; so fundamental and so interesting and any nation that intends to develop needs a thorough understanding of Mathematics by majority of its citizens.

So we feel that some of those teaching and learning Mathematics are not trained and we should try as much as possible to get some and train them properly. That is why we are here to conduct this workshop for the MDGs under the Ministry of Education for Mathematics teachers.

Educational Development is part of the Seven Point Agenda of Mr. President and education covers the entire Agenda, which borders on the entire economy of the nation.

When you talk of health, you talk of education; you talk of power, security and the likes. These are fundamental areas where any nation should be well grounded and the basis of these areas is education. The people must be well educated. Any educated person would like to educate the others, and any education that is not well grounded in numeracy is no education at all. Mathematics is the basis for numeracy. For any scientific and technological development, Mathematics is very fundamental.

A programme is going on right now in America, which the government wants its citizens, especially the junior ones to know Mathematics. China developed because at a particular time, they popularised Mathematics. So actually, the basis of development is Mathematics. That is why the Great Napoleon said the development of Mathematics and that of the state are deeply connected. It is this connection we have seen and think Nigerians must be mathematically grounded.

In each geopolitical zone, we are organising workshops in two places, and we have gone round the North Central, where we had organised it in Lokoja and Makurdi. We have gone to the South East and we organised it in Awka and Umuahia. Now we are in the South-South where we are organising this workshop in Calabar and Asaba. So we pick two capital cities in each geopolitical zone, and other states around those states chosen as training centres would come there and participate in the workshop.

They are basically secondary school Mathematics teachers. From each state we train a minimum of sixty. Very sad to say, some states could not present up to sixty Mathematics teachers. So we make up the number from the Unity Schools. In Akwa Ibom for instance, we could not even get up to twenty Mathematics teachers.

Well, our information to the Ministry was taken very lightly, and it is very sad because I know that the state has Mathematics teachers in their schools, but could not make the workshop.

Unfortunately, we have a dearth of Mathematics teachers. There is no state in this country that has sufficient Mathematics teachers. We try to make up by asking teachers of other subjects to come and teach Mathematics. In fact I would say, from data available to us, that we don't have 50 per cent qualified Mathematics teachers in any state. This worries us. Therefore, we are developing programmes that would enable us train more Mathematics teachers. What we are doing right now is that, if you find yourself teaching the subject, we try to provide you what to teach and how to teach it. Although you may not be an expert in the subject, we try to help you to teach the subject very well. The dearth of Mathematics teachers is a worldwide problem but that of Nigeria is really pathetic and I can say worse than any other nation.

Let me say, indirectly, because we organise workshops even for teachers from Colleges of Education and Mathematics Education Departments.

Again I would say that these institutes you have mentioned are mainly to produce those who have degrees or diplomas in Mathematics. What we are trying to do is to see that what they already have can actually be very good teachers in the science of knowing what to teach and how to teach it very well. Unfortunately those with certificates are not very good enough and we try to help. So we are complementary. And I can say we organise workshops for these categories of teachers who are actually teaching those who want to graduate in Mathematics or in Mathematics Education.