To revive the study of Mathematics in
Nigeria, the Federal Government should declare a four-year national
emergency in Mathematics, Director/Chief Executive Executive Officer of
the National Mathematical Centre, Prof. Adewale Solarin, has said.
The emergency should also include N108
billion bailout for the over 54,000 public primary schools in the
country and moving the NMC to the Presidency, while all the private
companies in Nigeria should adopt each of the public schools in the
country.
According
to Solarin, the use of Mathematics to solve electoral puzzle, a feat
achieved by Prof. Chike Obi, in the Second Republic, could still be
replicated in contemporary Nigeria because “there is Mathematics in
everything.”
He spoke in Abuja during the national
olympiads awards ceremony for secondary schools in Nigeria and
investiture of first distinguished Fellow of NMC, Prof. Sam Ale, who was
also its former Director-General.
Solarin said, “The problem is basically
for us to have the funds to be able to extend these methods and
developing materials to schools. Basically, you know that Maths at the
secondary school level is a state affair; education is on the concurrent
list. So it takes the state to take interest in the activities of the
NMC to be able to reach out to the schools.
“If you see the video on mental
arithmetic, the mental maths programme, in a basic public primary school
of 200 students and 20 teachers, will cost about N2 million. So, if you
can now multiply it by the number of primary schools in Nigeria which
is over 54,000, you will be talking about N108 billion. When you are
talking of billions, it means something must be done concerning the
education budget.
“The private sector and others should be
involved and that is one of the reasons we are pleading that every
company in this country should adopt each of the 54,000 public primary
schools. In the alternative, we should declare national emergency on
Mathematics like it is done in other countries. If we declare national
emergency, the National Mathematical Centre should be moved to the
Presidency and funds will be received from all the various agencies. If
the NMC is funded for about 3-4 years, what we are saying now will be
completely out.”
source:Punch
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