Category: Study

The Nigerian Tulip International Colleges (NTIC) has underscored the need for students to embrace the study of mathematics to enjoy successful science-related careers.

The Managing Director of NTIC, Mr Feyzullah Bilgin, gave the advice in Abuja at the 20th Annual National Mathematics Competition (ANMC) for Primary 5, 6 and JSS3 students.

The competition was organised by NTIC in collaboration with the National Mathematical Centre (NMC) to promote the study of the subject.

“Mathematics is the key of all the science subjects and when a person is very good at maths, the person is going to be able to think abstractly and highly.

“The study of mathematics will help the student become successful in anything, including other subjects.

“In the past in Greece where philosophers were famous and active, they had an academia and at the gate was written: ‘no one can enter if you do not know mathematics’,” he said.

Bilgin advised students of the college to study very hard, so as to “become the best of the best.”

He also advised parents to always support their wards with relevant tools to enable them realise their dreams of studying Mathematics.

Speaking at the event, the Director-General of NMC, Prof. Promise Mebine, described mathematics as the language of science on which “the future is built”.

The D-G, represented by Prof. Jonathan Ogidi, Head of International Linkages and Advancement at the centre, said any nation that did not prioritise mathematics would have no future.

“Mathematics is important because it is a means of clothing the future; a nation that does not honour and respect mathematics has no future,” he said.

He therefore advised parents to invest in the education of their children, so as to prepare them for a responsible future.

“If the parents know what it takes to invest in the future of their children, especially education, it is not the material things you buy for them that should be your priority.

“It should be how to let your child have knowledge that will keep and help him or her to stand on their own in the near future, when you are no more to help them,” he said.

Mebine disclosed that NMC has developed a Digital Mathematics Network which would contain JSS 1 to JSS 3 curriculum in digital form, to enable students learn mathematics on the go.

Also speaking, Mr Henry Aniobi, a mathematics olympian, encouraged students to be focused while in school.

“As a student, you should be focused on learning and put in your best in all that you do because this is the beginning of your life path.

“As a math olympian, mathematical problem solving is an art. When solving a problem, you need to think creatively. Mathematics helps you think outside the box,” he said.

Aniobi congratulated the awardees and thanked NTIC and NMC for the initiative.

Nwakuche Chidubem, a pupil from Pyramid Learning Academy, Anambra, who emerged overall best, received a cash prize of N100,000, a computer set for the school and a 100 per cent scholarship to NTIC.

Amah Chibuike from Diamond Special School, Imo, who came second, received a cash prize of N75,000, a tablet for the school and full scholarship to study at NTIC.

Also, Mofiyinoluwa Joshua of St. Saviour’s School, Lagos State, who emerged third got N50,000, a printer and full scholarship to NTIC.

In the JSS category, Chukwunwike Ezebube of NTIC came tops and was recognised with a certificate.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Two female students of the St. Ignatius of Loyola (Lassia Tuolu) Senior High School in the Wa West District lost their lives in a fatal accident at Gindabuor in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District of the Savannah Region.

The accident, which occurred in the early hours of Thursday, April 6, claimed the lives of Hidaya Boressah Abudu, a first-year student, from Bole in the Savannah Region, and Cynthia Bong-Yinaa, a second-year student, from Konzokala in the Jirapa District, Upper West Region.

The victims, who were pronounced dead on arrival at the Upper West Regional Hospital, had since been buried.

Five other students were injured and are receiving treatment at the same hospital while one student is on admission at the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District Hospital.

Mr Banongwie Emmanuel, the Headmaster of the school, who confirmed this to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said 14 students were on board a Sanyon minibus hired by the students to convey them to the southern sector.

The school was vacated on Thursday, and the students were travelling back home for the Easter break when the unfortunate happened.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Federal Government has called on authors and publishers to produce “born accessible’’ books to accommodate visually impaired persons.

The Executive Secretary, National Commission for Persons With Disabilities (NCPWD), Mr James Lalu, gave the task at a news conference in Abuja.

Lalu spoke on the domestication (signing of the Copyright Act) and initiation of the the implementation process of the Marrakesh Treaty.

He noted the challenges faced by the blind, people with low vision and print disabled, calling for the production of books in worldwide accessible formats such as braille, audio, e-text and large print to address their challenges.

“We cannot talk about inclusive education without providing learning materials in accessible formats. In our determination and commitment, we will make sure we make it accessible for the blind community,’’ he said.

According to him, the commission has a mini printing press to produce any braille educational materials for free to ensure an inclusive environment for all persons regardless of their disabilities.

He said: “We are inviting the public to make sure they use this printing press and every services they will get are absolutely free.

“ We call on all organisations that any programe that you are doing and will be inviting PWDs, make sure you provide them at an accessible formats because we are here at your service and will provide it for free.’’

He added that plans were on ground by the commission to revive the existing braille printing press in Lagos for the production and distribution of free braille school books for pupils in primary and secondary schools.

The Executive Secretary also called on prospective investors to establish braille printing press to carter to the needs of visually impaired persons.

“ We are calling on the general public, anyone interested in establishing a braille printing press, the NCPWD will provide appropriate license for the printing press.

“And we will work closely with them to ensure that we maintain the standard and quality of documents to be produced to improve service delivery for our pupils to ensure education is accessible for disability community, the blind community.”

Dr John Asein, the Director General, Nigerian Copyright Commission(NCC), stressed the need for accessible educational materials for visually impaired to reduce rates of blind beggars on the street.

“When you tell blind children to leave the street and go to school, and they get to schools and don’t find their own books in those schools, they will go back to the streets.

“Books should be made available to everyone in the manner, way and platform that can be used to learn.

“And for the blind, that means providing the books in accessible formats and copies,’’ he said.

Asein added that as strategy to implement the Marrakesh Treaty, NCC would collaborate with other stakeholders to make the Copyright Act, other funded government books in braille and other accessible formats.

“Everytime government sponsors or funds the production of any book, it will be available in accessible formats because tax payers include both the blind and the sighted, as the blind are part of this nation, so should reap from the national resource,’’ he said.

Mr Adamu Ishiyaku, the National President, Nigeria Association of the Blind (NAB), said the implementation of the National Copyright bill into law will ensure access to printed materials for visually impaired persons.

“We urge all these partners to continue to partner with NAB and other stakeholders to ensure implementation of this act.

“Particularly Section 26 of the National Copyright Law is successful and realistic for the visually impaired and otherwise print disabled,’’ he said.

On his part, Mr David Okon, thevChairman, Education Committee for the Blind, commended President Muhammadu Buhari for signing the copyright act and other policies affecting PWDs in Nigeria.

Okon, however, urged incoming governments to implement the Act to enable PWD gain necessary knowledge and literacy that will enable them contribute to national development.

He said: “We should not go into retrospect, but we should progress. We are appealing that the new administration should take it up from there.

“They should implement this act and other provisions that will make equality and equitability in the Nigerian society for PWDs. We want equal rights and equity.’’

Sightsavers Country Director, Dr Sunday Isiyaku, said the signing into law of the copyright act, 2022, and implementation of the Marrakesh treaty would promote greater cultural participation, education and social inclusion for PWDs.

Isiyaku, represented by Ms Esther Angulu, the Programme Manager, Social Inclusion, said: “It is not enough for us to keep talking if we are not out there pushing and ensuring that this is done.

“We will continue to support with the work NAB have started and also support to ensure that the bill is implemented.’’

He reiterated their commitment to partner stakeholders in promoting the inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of the society, including education, employment and community life.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Lilongwe, Malawi, 20- 24 February 2023 — In Chichewa, one of the indigenous languages of Malawi, there is an old saying: “Kali kokha nkanyama; ali awiri ndi anthu”. Translated to “No man is an island,” it stems from the African indigenous philosophy of uMunthu and reflects the notion that no single person exists as an isolated individual, but rather as a member of their broader community.

The values of ethics, integrity, altruism and empathy that reinforce uMunthu are also those key values that inspire and shape the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)’s work around primary education. Through its methodology to build a culture of rejection of corruption amongst young people around the world, UNODC’s Global Resource for Anti-Corruption Education and Youth Empowerment initiative, or GRACE, works directly at the intersection between Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 (quality education) and SDG16 (building peace, justice and strong institutions), to foster the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

UNODC strongly believes in the progressive change that indigenous philosophies like uMunthu can bring when correctly integrated into formal education systems, while at the same time fostering Pan-Africanism and corruption-free societies.

To advance this, GRACE, the Anti-Corruption Bureau of Malawi (ACB), the Malawi Ministry of Education and the Malawi Institute of Education (MIE), in collaboration with UNDP Malawi, have been working to support the development of primary educational material based on this important African philosophy.

The aim is to create a ‘sourcebook’, i.e. a scripted manual with lesson plans and activities on ethics, integrity, and corruption for teachers to deliver in primary school. By embodying uMunthu values, attitudes and behaviours, the belief is that together it is possible to build just communities where corruption is ultimately rejected.

Ahead of the finalization of this important tool for teachers and the start of trainings in the country, representatives from the partner institutions and the two UN entities held discussions across Malawi. During the dialogues, the perspectives of students, teachers, parents, traditional and religious leaders and civil society were collected on the best way to approach this task and ensure the content is both context-specific and age-appropriate.

“The consultation experience was so enriching and changed the whole perception of the concept of the sourcebook,” noted Catherine Nkhoma, Principal Public Education Officer at the Anti-Corruption Bureau of Malawi and a former teacher herself. “After the consultations, we realized that the material we develop needs to speak to children!”

Over a period of ten days, 180-plus community members, primary school teachers and pupils from Blantyre, Lilongwe, Machinga and Rumphi were consulted.

“We are going to change Malawi. With this, we have an aim to achieve!” said one enthusiastic teacher who was consulted at Henry Henderson Primary School in Blantyre after reading the first unit of the sourcebook.

Currently, all the feedback gathered is being aggregated and will be included in the final sourcebook, which will be used as the foundation to develop a teaching methodology and start training teachers across the country.

Behavioural change is a long-term process, but youth deserve an opportunity to design better futures. As Ms. Nkhoma commented, “While we know corruption is a difficult and cross-sectional problem, we need to start somewhere.”

Source: EMM/ Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

HIGHLIGHTS

• Epidemics, cyclones, floods and prolonged drought in the south exacerbated by climate change further compound systematic weakness in Madagascar. This has affected the lives and well-being of children and their families in 2022. UNICEF projects 4.8 million people will need humanitarian assistance in 2023. A projected 2.4 million children will require humanitarian assistance, including 479,0003 children aged 6-59 months who are expected to suffer acute malnourishment through the lean season in southern Madagascar.

Increased stress and economic pressure on families expose 533,000 children to violence, abuse and exploitation, including child marriage, child labour and gender-based violence.

• UNICEF will provide a multisectoral, integrated response to address the humanitarian needs of children and their families. Reinforcing the resilience of local communities and systems and aligning with the Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action will be the backbone of the response.

• UNICEF requires US$41.1 million4 to address the acute needs of 1.5 million people in 2023, including 760,000 women/girls.

KEY PLANNED TARGETS

92,000 children with severe wasting admitted for treatment

759,000 children receiving Vitamin A supplementation

230,000 women and children accessing gender-based violence mitigation, prevention, response

520,000 people accessing a sufficient quantity and quality of water

HUMANITARIAN SITUATION AND NEEDS

Throughout 2022, Madagascar continued to be confronted with multiple complex crises, including consecutive cyclones that resulted in destruction and damage in the east and southeast regions; prolonged drought affecting the south; and epidemics throughout the country. The socioeconomic impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and climate change-driven extreme weather events, coupled with structural issues, brought the country to a historically high poverty rate, with 81 per cent of people living below poverty line. This includes 1.3 million children. The situation has significantly increased social protection needs while putting basic services under pressure.

The slow recovery from three consecutive failed rainy seasons in the south has left more than 4.8 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. During the upcoming lean season (January-April 2023), an estimated 479,000 children will be malnourished, including 92,000 experiencing wasting. Around 1.9 million11 are already affected by very difficult access to safe water and sanitation. The water situation is expected to deteriorate further with another season of below-average rainfall during the current rainy season (October 2022 to April 2023), which could create a sixth consecutive below-average harvest.

The particularly intense cyclone season of 2022 affected 423,800 people10 in southeast Madagascar, causing 136 deaths and the widespread destruction of public infrastructure and crops. Consequently, five out of the six districts in these regions were classified as Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Phase 3, or crisis level.

While Madagascar is prone to such epidemics as plague, measles and malaria, weak health services struggle to ensure continuity of basic services during crises.

Increased stress and economic pressure on families, exacerbated by the socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, further expose 533,000 children to violence, abuse and exploitation, including child marriage, child labour and multiple forms of gender-based violence. Humanitarian crises reduced households’ resilience and potentially pushed them to resort to negative coping mechanisms, which mainly affect women and children. This situation, in turn, is exacerbated by chronic weaknesses of systems for monitoring, preventing and responding to violence, including gender-based violence.

Source: UN Children’s Fund

Luanda – Southern African Development Community (SADC) announced the three Angolan winners of the 23rd edition of 2022 Secondary School Essay Competition on Friday.

The SADC Secretariat has allocated USD 1000 as prize money for national winners of the competition as follows: USD 500 for first prize, USD 300 for the second prize and USD 200 for the third prize winner.

The top three winners of 2022 Southern African Development Community (SADC) recently announced are:

In the first place was the student Casimira Pimenta in Angola’s Huambo province from the Secondary School Joaquim Kapango (12th grade), Irina Sardinha from the Commercial high Institute of Luanda (12th grade), and Ecliseaste Ricardo from Polytechnic Institute of Benguela (12th grade).

The competition takes place in two phases, with Irina Sardinha, second ranked in Angola, obtaining 10th place in the regional contest.

In 2022, under the theme: How SADC can increase production capacity in the face of Covid-19´´, 33 newsrooms competed across the country and the top three went to the regional competition.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Secretary of State for Pre-school and Primary Education, Pacheco Francisco, said he was pleased and called for more efforts by the sector in order to evolve and win better places.

To him, the creation of the competition, in 1999, helps young people to deepen their knowledge about the region and create proposals for mitigation, as well as stimulating reflection on the resilience of different sectors.

The ceremony also served to launch the 2023 edition, with the theme: How SADC can promote industrialisation for inclusive, resilient and sustainable economic growth.

The SADC Secondary Schools Essay Competition is a regional competition for students from schools and member countries to provide new opportunities for further knowledge.

SADC currently has 16 member countries.

They are Angola, South Africa, Botswana, DRC, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Mauritius, Eswatini, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Seychelles and Comoros.

Source: Angola Press News Agency