The Nation Newspaper

Tag: teach

  • How to teach Maths better, by scholars

    •Ajayi Poly matriculates students

    A Professor of Mathematics, Michael Alonge, has identified recruitment of unqualified teachers as a major cause of lack of interest in the subject in private and public schools.

    He also identified proper preparation by teachers, continuous assessment of students, giving of assignments, adequate lesson notes and adoption of modern teaching models to stimulate students’ interest.

    Alonge last weekend at the first public lecture to mark the maiden matriculation of new students of Ajayi Polytechnic, Ikere-Ekiti in Ekiti State.

    The lecture was entitled: “Teaching and assessment strategies in mathematics as panacea for technological and entrepreneurship developments.”

    Alonge, who stressed that teachers who studied Mathematics as a major course in the universities and colleges of education should be employed as teachers. He decried a situation where individuals who did not study the subject were employed to teach it.

    The don also suggested that Mathematics teachers should be allowed to move to the next class with their students for synergy and proper monitoring, adding that such teachers would impart knowledge better.

    According to him, proper attention to Mathematics would accelerate the nation’s quest for technological development and nation building.

    Alonge said: “The knowledge of Mathematics plays a major role in nation building. Today, many students in the country have no interest in the subject because of the wrong approach to teaching it.

    “Schools and government must ensure that only teachers who have been trained mainly in Mathematics that teach the subjects.

    “Teachers shouldn’t mark down students for not getting the final answer. Award marks for correct steps taken by students who didn’t getfinal answer in the mathematical calculations.”

    He added:”There is also the need for schools to ensure that teachers of Mathematics graduate with their students to their next class. If a teacher has taught the Class One this session, he should teach same class of students when they get to Class Two.

    “That way, he is better to impart the knowledge because he has already known the challenges of the students in understanding the subjects.”

    An educationist from the Republic of Ireland, Dr. Lucia Valente, harped on the use of technology to impart knowledge in Mathematics as done in advanced countries.

    Valente, who is the founder, Computational Class Notes in the Irish Republic, spoke on the use of cloud technology and other modern ways of teaching the subject.

    She said: “The system, cloud technology, is designed to work with educators in ensuring effective teaching of Mathematics in colleges; it is practice based.

    “The students keep practising until they get it. It increases their grades as it lays emphasis on homework. It is possible to increase student’s grade with constant practice.

    “It is based on visualisation, animation and unlimited variation, self learning, no text books, practice all the time.

    “It enhances time utilisation, decrease drop out, increase grades and encourages tangible knowledge, gives students confidence and make them to believe in themselves which are principles for educators.”

    The Founder/Rector, Ajayi Polytechnic, Dr. Busayo Ajayi, said the two scholars were chosen to speak on the subject because of the impact they had made in the field, noting that students and members of the public benefited from their knowledge.

    He explained that the vision of the polytechnic was to train and produce technical and skilled manpower that would become industrial giants and providers of solutions to the nation’s problems.

    According to him, the private polytechnic was established to empower the youths with inclusive and entrepreneurship and innovative technological education to solve the problem of graduate unemployment in the country.

    Ajayi said: “Our philosophy in the school is to ensure that we produce graduates that are not only employable, but can become entrepreneurs by starting on their own.

    “Thus is lacking in Nigerian education system and has led to mass unemployment. We also want a system that we can teach students better with the use of recent technological advancement.”

    One hundred new students matriculated at the event.

    Dignitaries at the event included the Ogoga of Ikere-Ekiti, Oba Adejimi Adu Alagbado; the Oloye of Oye-Ekiti and Chairman of the state Council of Oba, Oba Michael Oluwole Ademolaju and Commissioner for Education, Mr. Jide Egunjobi.

  • ‘Teacher, don’t teach me nonsense’

    The caption of this piece is an intellectual property of afro beat legend and activist, the late Fela Anikulakpo Kuti. ‘Teacher, Don’t Teach Me Nonsense’ is one of his evergreen hits. In the song, Fela decries the ills embedded in the polity. In one of the verses, he labelled our brand of democracy as ‘Demonstration of craze.’ He questioned where the authorities acquired the culture of corruption and flagrant abuse of power, and sought for attitudinal change. According to him, vices will die in the polity if they aren’t promoted or nurtured by the powers that be: ‘‘…as soon as teaching finish, yes, the thing go die.”

    In his time, Fela was the conscience of the nation. The armed forces literally reduced him to a punching bag, beating him to pulp on countless instances. Fictitious charges were often cobbled just to put him behind bars. To worsen issues, on the night of April 30, 1974, over a thousand military men raided his house. In the ensuing drama, the soldiers threw Fela’s mother Funmilayo from the first floor of the storey building before setting the edifice on fire.

    She later died from injuries sustained during the incident.

    Inhuman treatment notwithstanding, Fela remained vibrant in activism. He propagated evergreen messages in his lyrics. A little over two decades after his demise, these lyrics remain so relevant. Take for instance a developing issue involving Governor Udom Emmanuel, the governor of Akwa Ibom and Senator Godswill Akpabio, the Minority Leader of the Senate. Akpabio held sway as governor of Akwa Ibom for eight years which elapsed in 2015 when he passed the baton to Emmanuel.

    Brought in from one of the leading commercial banks in the country, Udom had a brief stint as Secretary to the State Government under the Akpabio administration. He was understudying his boss, I hear you say. Well, it later went beyond mere suspicion to full blown evidence. A kindergarten rhyme apparently remixed by Akpabio’s wife, Unoma, bared it all: ‘What did you, I know; what did you, I know; Godswill Akpabio, a great teacher who taught Udom Emmanuel.’

    Campaign grounds were serenaded by the weird song. Akpabio, then in the dying days of his reign as governor, was packaged as a great teacher who taught Udom the art of governance.

    Now, Udom has become an ‘alumni’ of ‘Akpabio School of Politics.’ But what did he really learn from the ‘great teacher’? Well, few days ago at the Abak Independence Hall, we heard from the horse’s mouth. The ‘great teacher’ spilled his mind. For out of abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, so says the Holy Bible. The great teacher himself revealed Udom’s report card.

    Sampler: “2018 is less than one year to election, all is not well o; don’t allow anybody to deceive you that all is well. If the hotel in Ikot Ekpene (Four Points by Sheraton) rots after so much money had been expended, would that be a good thing?

    “That road from Uyo to Ikot Ekpene, is still the way it was (when I left office). In the 2018 budget, what is the percentage for Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District? My job is to say the truth because if at this level I cannot say the truth, then I am not doing well. So please I want us to start the hotel because when the Commissioner for Works addressed the youths in August, he assured them that the hotel would be opened in December, it will soon decay if urgent intervention is not given to the facility.

    He wasn’t done: “Please, let us check the budget to know what has been earmarked for that place. I am not interested in what I did and what I did not do; I am only interested in what I am going to do.

    “The truth is that Godswill Akpabio expects us to set our path straight so that we can take one route. Even when you are going for communion, you must be in a state of grace, so let us have something from the Senatorial District to use in talking about election; to use in convincing the people to stand by us. We are in opposition, we don’t have government, we don’t have Police, we don’t have INEC”, he warned.

    Akpabio told us what we knew, what we should know and what we didn’t know. ‘The great teacher’ pointedly accused Udom of marginalizing Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District. He painted his political son as a tribal bigot.

    Is nemesis not catching up with ‘the great teacher?’ Yours truly observes that Udom isn’t doing anything that Akpabio didn’t do. Permit my bluntness. Akpabio as a ‘great teacher’ was setting a dangerous precedent for his ‘student’ cum successor.

    Under Akpabio, the maxim ‘government is a continuum’ was abolished. His predecessor, Obong Victor Attah, having messed up with the Science Park project left office in 2007. However, given the strategic importance of the project, the yearning was for Akpabio to complete work on the project. He however shut his ears and abandoned it. Today, the remains of Ibom Science Park have become a den of criminals. The Ibom Science Park is just one in a long list of the Attah era projects abandoned by Akpabio.

    Akpabio demonized the Attah administration covertly and overtly. A man who became a hero in the resource control agitation was reduced to a pathetic case study. Obong Attah whined severally in the media, but received barrage of insults. Akpabio himself and his allies verbally whipped him for fun.

    Who forgets the infamous government sponsored ‘What does Obong Attah Really Want?’ advertorial on The Nation wherein few spent forces were fronted as signatories just to spite Attah for daring to question the rationale behind the Ibom Tropicana Project? That project which was a conduit pipe. Today, Ibom Tropicana lies in waste.

    From 2007 to 2015, tribalism bore its poisonous fangs. Akwa Ibom became a tribal cauldron. The 2011 gubernatorial poll particularly was more of an Annang versus Ibibio contest. I choose not to narrate several incidences here for the sake of allowing the proverbial sleeping dog lie.

    To cap it all, Akpabio was covertly and overtly accused of favouring the Annangs and commandeering the state’s commonwealth to his hometown of Ukana Ikot Ntuen. Today, Udom has followed suit, empowering his Onna brothers and turning his native Awa Iman hometown into a haven.

    The governor isn’t doing anything that his predecessor didn’t do. Governor Emmanuel as an ‘alumni’ of the ‘Akpabio School of Politics’ is exhibiting what he learnt with dexterity. Even the ‘great teacher’ is in awe. Akpabio abandoned Attah’s projects, today, Udom is abandoning Akpabio’s projects. Akpabio was severally accused of marginalizing the Ibibio’s; today, he is accusing an Ibibio son of marginalizing the Annangs (Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District).

    ‘They that sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind’, so says the Bible. Akpabio is harvesting his investment in Udom. Forget the fake smiles and hugs, ‘all is not well’ as Akpabio confirmed.

    Permit me to conclude this short piece by positing that nonsense must surely give birth to nonsense. You reap what you sow. To avoid becoming a nuisance, when you are taught nonsense, reject it promptly. Don’t hesitate to boldly say: ‘teacher, don’t teach me nonsense.’

     

    • Honesty is Public Affairs Analyst. He writes from Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

  • Gbajabiamila volunteers to teach

    The Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has promised to explore the recess of the National Assembly to teach in secondary schools.

    He spoke at a Town Hall meeting with principals and parents in his constituency in Surulere, on Sunday.

    The lawmaker said the objective was to have a feel of the learning environment in order to know how he could intervene.

    He praised the Lagos State government, principals and teachers for the job they were doing to improve the lives of children put in their care.

    He also distributed 500 free forms for the November/December West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for private candidates to indigent students across the 23 senior secondary schools in his constituency.

    Gbajabiamila said the distribution of the forms was part of his electoral promise to impact on his constituents. He said education was strategic to human capital development as well as the development of the nation.

    He said the distribution of 501 e-tablets to students in the first quarter of the year was one of the education interventions in the area. He added that he had built new classrooms, facilitated the renovation of schools as well as given scholarships and provided ICT tools in schools.

    “I am passionate about education and I will continue to support education in my constituency. Apart from what we have done so far, much more will follow, “he said.

    He, however, decried rampant street fights involving some pupils of some schools in the area, describing the  attitude as worrisome. The lawmaker urged parents to warn their wards against the act, as the government could not afford any threat to peace in the area.

    In his contribution, a member of the Lagos State  House of Assembly, Mr Desmond Elliot, praised Gbajabiamila for his passion for education. He said it took a politician who could look into the future to give a quantum of education support.

    “I have never seen a politician who has given so much back to the people since my over 40 years on earth.  He has a view of the future with his support for education. Surulere is proud to have him as a representative,” he said.

    A parent, Alhaja Wosilat Abiola, described the House Leader’s  gesture as “impactful”. She said the forms would touch the lives of the beneficiaries.

  • Consultancy firm to teach students

    The FUNAAB Vice Chancellor, Prof Olusola Oyewole, has urged graduates of the College of Engineering (COLENG) to use the institution’s engineering consultancy firm as a launch pad into the engineering profession.

    Speaking at the induction of the 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 graduates into the engineering profession, Oyewole, said the university would encourage engineering students to procure equipment for road rehabilitation in collaboration with the college.

    Oyewole said the university floated the consultancy firm and an engineering company to expose the students to practical-oriented teaching.  He charged the young engineers not to rest on their oars but to take the occasion as a stepping platform towards enhancing their capabilities and preparing for greater challenges.

    Delivering his lecture titled: the “Prime Time” on the occasion, the Executive Director (Engineering), Ogun-Oshun River Basin Development Authority (OORBDA), Mr Jimi Sokunle, advised the young engineers to take advantage of their youthfulness and make wise decisions as they seek to earn a living.

     

  • Don’t teach my student nonsense

    February was really bad for some of us. For me, certain things came up that shook my stoic deportment to life. I had borne the pains and anguish for some time before I decided to reach out to a dear friend on phone in the middle of the night. I’m glad I made that call. I was able to pore out my heart and at the end of the early morning, I was much better.

    When I thought mine was the heaviest burden to carry, one of my mentors/father made a phone call to me that I should see him. As soon as I got there, he begged that as part of my work schedules for him, he needed me to teach him the basic use of the computer. I was surprised at that request. This is one individual who wouldn’t care about sending SMS let alone learn the use of the computer. Why the sudden interest? I needed to know. Not one to display emotions, he told me that a large sum of money (enough to buy me a clean house in a good part of Abuja) had been transferred from his account without his knowledge. The money has been traced to Hong Kong and he’s hopeful they nab the people who did it.

    While investigations are going on, he would like to dedicate just one hour per day to teaching him how to use commands on the computer so he would begin to open his emails himself, do internet banking and generally be literate enough to ensure that no one else has his passwords.

    I couldn’t refuse that demand. Yet, I couldn’t say that yes, not only do I have more knowledge of the computer than an average user (after all, I’m an author who has written all my published books straight from my laptop) I actually learnt to use the computer on my own. I didn’t’;t go to any computer school for that. Years of practice and on-the job efforts got me this far and made me a pro. I prayed that he wouldn’t ask me to teach him how to recognize your letters without looking at the keyboard – those are things they teach you in computer schools. Asking him to go to a computer school would mean special schools that open from 7.00pm to 8.00 would need to be located for him. (All big people are always on the move and 9.00pm is still day time for a lot of them).

    Lo and behold, Baba wanted to teach him what I had prayed he wouldn’t ask me to – recognizing letter without looking at the keyboard. Up till now, I don’t know how I managed to take his mind off that. What I know is that today, after just four days of teacher/student arguments, he is able to boot his computer, type words and start new paragraphs, highlight letter to increase font sizes, close files and a few other things. I have to sometimes remind him of commands like ‘Enter’, ‘Backspace’and ‘Control’, but we’re getting there.

    The highlight of the lesson is that since Baba has never been alone with a woman since the years I’ve known him the lessons are done in the presence of his PA and his son. Baba obviously doesn’t understand why these young men laugh when I say things like , ‘open’, ‘close’, ‘enter’, ‘control’, ‘go down’ and ‘shift’. As they are idle when we are busy, their minds must be playing some silly tricks and they are enjoying it.

    As for me, I pray I’m able to help Baba computer literate before the end of March and while I laugh at the games of these young men, I pray they don’t end up teaching Baba nonsense.

  • What Aung San Suu Kyi could teach President Obama and Mitt Romney

    What Aung San Suu Kyi could teach President Obama and Mitt Romney

    SOMETIMES IT IS more difficult to learn to work together than to suffer individually,” Aung San Suu Kyi observed to a Washington audience last week.

    Coming from a woman who has spent most of the past two decades in isolation, under house arrest, it was a striking statement. The Nobel Peace Prize winner from Burma was seeking support in Washington as her country, also known as Myanmar, emerges from a half-century of dictatorship. What seemed uppermost on her mind were the practical, human difficulties of making democracy work.

    She talked about how people in her country, a Southeast Asian nation of 50 million or so, don’t really know how to ask questions of their leaders, a practice that hasn’t been much encouraged in recent decades. Similarly, she said, politicians aren’t used to the notion that they have “a duty to explain their policies.” She fretted that the Burmese fear of losing face makes it difficult for politicians to compromise.

    All of which made us wonder whether Washington might not have more to learn from Aung San Suu Kyi than the other way around. No doubt Burma, like every nation, has challenges specific to its history and culture. But the allergy to compromise, the failure of leaders to explain their intentions — much of it sounded drearily familiar.

    Here we have a presidential campaign in which both candidates are more eager to tear the other down than explain what he would do if elected. Since Republican nominee Mitt Romney has been on both sides of so many issues, the problem is particularly acute in his case. He offers platitudes about lowering taxes but refuses to say how he could make the numbers add up. He faults President Obama for having failed to achieve compromise with Congress, yet his dismissal of the half of the country that does not support him hardly seems the basis for a unifying presidency.

    Having occupied the White House for nearly four years, Mr. Obama presents less of a mystery. But it is disappointing that he offers no second-term agenda beyond defending and completing the work of his first. He accepts no responsibility for the worsening gridlock that he had promised to alleviate; his only fault, he says, was to trust naively in the good faith of the other side. His takeaway is that “you can’t change Washington from the inside.”

    There’s nothing wrong with a president going outside Washington to mobilize support; that’s what the bully pulpit is for. But Mr. Obama’s version of the past four years is incomplete. Republicans were often more intent on thwarting him than helping the country, even reversing long-held positions to do so. But at key moments, when compromise might have been possible, Mr. Obama lost his nerve or failed to lead.

    More important than arguing over history is the oft-postponed challenge of repairing the nation’s finances. Even before Inauguration Day, the country, if its politicians cannot find a compromise, will slide over a fiscal cliff of tax hikes and spending cuts that will endanger national security and send the country reeling back into recession. What would President Obama do in a lame-duck session to head this off? What would a President-elect Romney counsel? We have no idea.

    Aung San Suu Kyi, who won election to parliament in April, said her party refused to make “easy promises” that it could not fulfill. “Some people tell me this means I’m not a real politician,” she joked.

    “Cut taxes.” “Preserve Medicare.” Those are easy promises. Righting this country will require more difficult measures — including Democrats and Republicans working together.

    –Washinton Post