The Teach Girls Tech Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, has trained over 40 secondary and primary school teachers through the i-MathElevate project to improve mathematics performance in Rivers State.
The foundation's founder, Ejiroghene John, disclosed this during a workshop organised by the foundation, in partnership with Elsevier MSSF and with the approval of the Rivers Ministry of Education, in Port Harcourt, on Thursday.
She said that the i-MathElevate teachers' training programme was designed to run for two months of virtual learning to tackle the declining performance in mathematics among students and teachers in Nigeria
"We are introducing technical games like coding, AR and VR, Rubik's Cube, abacus, and artificial intelligence to aid maths learning.
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"This will aid teachers and students from public and underserved schools that will be trained on i-MathElevate to use these games to improve performance in mathematics in all the schools in the 23 local government areas in Rivers, and Nigeria at large," she said.
According to her, the i-MathElevate Project will impact over 40 schools, 40 teachers, and thousands of students, with a special focus on inclusive teaching practices that support learners with disabilities and those who struggle with mathematics.
Ms John explained that the project would be concluded with a student competition and exhibition, where participating schools would showcase projects and learning outcomes, with over 20 schools set to receive awards and prizes.
The founder commended the Elsevier MSSF and the Rivers Ministry of Education for their partnership and support.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education in Rivers, Azibaolanari Nwogu, represented by Inisefiekabo Job, said the state government was committed to promoting science and mathematics education.
"Mathematics is not just a subject; everybody needs it.
"The Ministry of Education is looking at ways to ensure our students and pupils do well in their academic work, and that is why we accepted this training workshop.
"We advise all our teachers participating in workshop to leverage this opportunity to improve themselves and also their students," she said.
Nduka Wonu, a professor and senior mathematics lecturer at the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, in Rivers, said that mathematics was crucial to solving Nigeria's economic problems, emphasising that the subject was at the core of science and technology.
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Mr Wonu, while unveiling the i-MathElevate Project starter packs, said that mathematical knowledge and problem-solving skills were essential for national development, particularly in areas like machine learning and artificial intelligence.
He identified developmental dyscalculia, a condition that makes it difficult for students to perform calculations, as a major obstacle to mathematics learning, and called for training of teachers to diagnose and address the issue.
Mr Wonu urged the Rivers State Government to invest more in training and retraining teachers through the i-MathElevate programme to improve mathematics performance in the state's schools.
(NAN)
