National Mathematical Centre (NMC) has reiterated its commitment to promoting activities that will improve the research, teaching and learning of mathematics and mathematical sciences in the country.
Director/Chief Executive of the centre, Prof. Promise Mebine, expressed the commitment at the 2021/2022 Mathematics Day and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the girl-child in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the International Day of Mathematics (IDM) is celebrated on March 14 of every year in honour of the beauty, relevance, importance, benefits and applicability of the subject in real life.
NAN also reports that the theme for the 2022 IDM is: “Mathematics Unites,” with the celebration featuring the crowning of 2021 Nigeria Maths Queen, Miss Marcel Onyebuchi of FGGC, Owerri, Imo.
Onyebuchi also emerged the overall best in the 2021 Mathematics competition for girls in Junior Secondary School nationwide, organised by National Mathematical Centre under its SDGs programme.
Mebine described mathematics as the bedrock of science, technology and engineering, saying that without it, there would not be any meaningful development.
According to him, NMC is poised to develop appropriate initiatives and resources of international standard for reawakening and sustaining interest in the mathematical sciences and their applications at all levels of education system.
“This will, in the end, lead us to the UNESCO vision of popularisation of the subject.
“I, therefore, urge our dear country to scale up investments in education, particularly in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) to change the narrative.
“We are here to celebrate a discipline described as boundless because its applications are seen in everything around us; a discipline defined as an intelligencer that unravels the hidden truths of everyday living; a discipline described as a queen.
“It is a worldwide celebration that brings together various participants through activities for both students and the general public in schools, museums, libraries and other spaces.
“It is important to state that no nation grows and develops without appropriate knowledge and application of Mathematics,” he said.
In her lecture, Dr Mary Durojaiye, of University of Abuja, said that for students to learn better, teachers should go beyond the textbooks, adding that the children should be made to understand that what they were learning would help them in future.
“We need mathematics in every area of our lives: in the kitchen, roads, shops and others.
“Every human being calculates speed and counting has a vital role in our daily life,” Durojaiye said.
While commending the centre for the initiative, she called for encouragement of teachers through various incentives to aid their efficiency.
Also speaking, Dr Uche Anaduaka, of the same institution, stressed the importance of educating the girl-child, as she is the future mother of the nation.
Anaduaka said that mathematical knowledge usually equipped the girl-child to excel in life.
On the selection of the contestants for the mathematics competition, the Desk Officer of SDGs in NMC, Dr Sylvester Orobosa, said that the first, second and third stages of the contest were done at the state level.
Orobosa said that the best of all the contestants across the 36 states and FCT were selected and assembled at the centre for the final stage where the Mathematics Queen emerged.
NAN
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