By Jacinta Nwachukwu/Okeoghene Oghenekaro
Abuja – Prof. Stephen Onah, the Chief Executive, National Mathematical Centre (NMC), has advised students to have a positive mindset towards learning Mathematics in order to excel in it.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja, Onah said that students should accept all subjects and see them as not difficult or impossible to be learnt and easily passed.
According to him, there is no subject or discipline that is exclusive to a certain category of people.
He noted that the negative mindset of some students towards mathematics was responsible for their inability to learn and excel in it.
“God has made everyone equal and has given us equal opportunities. I, therefore, advise students to change their negative mindset towards mathematics and embrace it as any other subject they excel in.
“Then you will discover that mathematics may even be an easier subject to learn than any of these other subjects.’’
The director also blamed some environmental factors, including teachers, as great contributors to the lack of interest by some children in Mathematics.
“The question is how do we now get teachers to make the subject an attraction?
“This is why the centre has developed teaching modules on how to approach Mathematics in a very innovative form.
“That is why the centre has written its own textbooks as to how mathematics should be taught from primary school to secondary and tertiary levels.
“That is why the centre has developed mathematics kits,’’ Onah said.
According to him, the centre has physical instruments in teaching mathematics so it does not look so abstract.
“We make it look like a practical subject; you can feel it.
“Instead of cramming the formula, it will tell you how that formula comes about, demonstrate it; at the end, you will have a physical feel of the subject,’’ he said.
