Make Mathematics a friendly subject - Prof. Anku

Sakumono, Aug 1, GNA - Mathematics and Science Teachers in the country have been urged to make the study of the two subjects friendly to enable learners to appreciate their important role in society.

Professor Sitsofe Anku, President of the Ghana Mathematics Society, who gave the advice, said mathematics was essential to every aspect of life, for which reason, students must be given the opportunity to get its concept early in life in order to build upon it in future.

Prof Anku, who is also the Director of the Meagasa Mathematics Academy, said this on Monday at the opening ceremony of a month-long “National Mathematics Camp 2011” at Sakumono.

The Camp, which is organized by the Academy, is expected to train about 450 students in three batches, drawn from schools nationwide, on Exploring Mathematics for the Development of Technology.

Prof Anku said instead of creating fear in the students by caning and punishing them for getting a concept wrong, teachers must rather adopt practical teaching methods.

He said it was about time teachers removed fears about the subject and rather reoriented the minds of their students on the fact that “Mathematics is doable and efficient.”

He observed that the increasing number of street children was due to the failure of students in mathematics at the Junior and Senior High Schools Examinations.

Prof. Anku explained that due to the failure in the subject, students would not get admission into higher learning institutions, thus ending up on the streets for survival.

He called on the Media to encourage the study of mathematics by broadcasting and promoting mathematics-based programmes.

Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, encouraged students to take the subject seriously, since, according to him, mathematics was the basic problem most people faced in getting recruitment into the Ghana Armed Forces, the National Security Services and Nursing Training College among other professions.

He said it was about time students took the study of mathematics more seriously, as the world was fast developing due to technology, which was basically founded on mathematics.

Madam Dorothy Gordon, Director-General of the Ghana-Indian Kofi Annan Centre for Excellence in ICT, appealed to teachers to adopt innovative ways of teaching mathematics to whip up the interest of their students in the subject.

GNA