Enugu
Former Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, has advocated for employment of more teachers in arithmetic and other core science subjects at the primary school level to revive science and technology.
Nnaji, a former Minister of Science and Technology, told newsmen, yesterday in Enugu that the country “is not getting it right on its pursuit for advancement in science and technology, hence the need for more science teachers.”
The former minister, who was speaking on the low capacity of the country to produce artisans, technicians, technologists and scientists, said that if well trained, they could invent things to solve local technical or engineering challenges.
He said although the education system had gone bad, there were a few states making efforts to revamp the sector.
“In primary school, this is where the whole thing starts; you need to have teachers that can read and write and do arithmetic properly and not teachers that will be teaching children incorrect grammar.
“I can tell you that the ugly development is like the prevailing situation now in many state schools. This needs to be corrected.
“In teachers training colleges, many of the teachers and people who go there somehow think coming out with certificate is all they need and not learning about teaching,” he said.
Nnaji said “a typical Nigerian child has high intelligence quotient, but the process of impacting the knowledge had been a problem over the years.”
“It centres on teaching and how we impact this knowledge and motivate these children to think, dream and practically use the ideals they have in their heads.”
Nnaji also urged young Nigerians to key into software development as means of creating jobs in the country.
