Former minister calls for more teachers in arithmetic

Prof. Barth Nnaji, a former Minister of Science and Technology, has advocated for more teachers in arithmetic and other core science subjects at the primary school level to revive science and technology.

Nnaji told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Enugu that “the country is not getting it right on its pursuit for advancement in science and technology.”

The former minister, who was speaking on the low capacity of the country to produce artisans, technicians, technologists and scientists, said if well trained, they could invent things to solve local technical or engineering challenges.

He said although the educational system had gone bad, there were a few states making efforts to revamp the educational sector in their states.

“In primary school, this is where the whole thing starts; you need to have teachers that can read and write and do arithmetic properly and not teachers that will be teaching children incorrect grammar.

“I can tell you that the ugly development is like the prevailing situation now in many state schools.This needs to be corrected.

“In teachers training colleges, many of the teachers and people who go there somehow think coming out with certificate is all they need and not learning about teaching,’’ he said.

Nnaji, who is a Professor of Robotic Engineering and Physics, said that a typical Nigerian child has high intelligent quotient but the process of impacting the knowledge had been a problem over the years.

“It centres on teaching and how we impact this knowledge and motivate these children to think, dream and practically use the ideals they have in their heads,” he said.