Lagos State government in collaboration with Darsel, an international organisation, has presented awards to students who emerged winners in the Darsel Learn by Text Mathematics Initiative.
The government through the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education said the honour is to appreciate the effort of the students who actively used the Artificial Intelligence tool to improve their knowledge in mathematics.
Speaking at the event, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Mrs Abisola-Dokunmu Adegbite said the initiative transcends just solving mathematics but revolves around solving social challenges.
Adegbite affirmed that education is the key to development of any society and Lagos State is partnering with stakeholders to ensure development of the sector.
“We will encourage everyone to take self development seriously and encourage the principals to relate with teachers and students. I also urged the schools that won this year not to rest on their oars, they should keep it up and encourage other students. Without education there is no society. We want to bring education to the level where it belongs.” she said.
Improve performance
The Country’s Implementation Partner at Darsel, Mrs Wunmi Tolu-Alalade, explained that the initiative was designed to improve students performance in mathematics and the quality of education in Lagos State.
Tolu-Alalade who also called for more support from the government towards scaling up the initiative said that it is a way to demystify the phobia students have for mathematics.
According to her, “everybody has something against mathematics so we decided to do AI powered chatbot tool that students can use to practice mathematics for just 15 minutes daily and we are rewarding students that have utilized the chatbot to improve their mathematics.
“It is a way of supporting the government to ensure there is a good outcome in mathematics. This year, 10 million questions were solved and we had over 30,000 students in JSS 3 across the state. We used the Nigerian curriculum for the programme but next year students from JSS 1 and 2 will also be involved.”
“Our target is to improve the quality of education in Lagos State. If the foundation in basic education is not right, there is nothing we can build on. If you are not good at mathematics, you can’t go on with any other things. We want the state government to support us. We want the parents to give their phones to their children and allow them to practice everyday throughout the school academic year when the challenge will end and the winner will emerge.”
Solving challenges
In his remark, the Chairman, Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT Lagos State Chapter, Mr Akintoye Hassan commended Darsel and Lagos State for the partnership towards ensuring students brace up in their learning of mathematics.
Hassan said the knowledge of mathematics is critical to help the students prepare ahead of life’s challenges.
“Teachers are important in our society. Darsel is about mathematics, it prepares every student for the society. Mathematics is not about Algebra that the mathematics teacher intends to teach but is about preparing the students for critical thinking with a view to solve societal problems.
For instance, there is a topic in elementary mathematics called simultaneous equations, where you tend to resolve two elements of an equation at the same time and that alone is to prepare anyone in life that sometimes you might be confronted with multiple challenges, how do you resolve them at the same time. This is the reason the subject is made compulsory for students. So I urge the students to rise to the occasion and confront the problems of the nation.”
Awards categories
This year’s award for the 2024/2025 academic year in the students category, Kareem Aishat Olamide from Isasi Junior Grammar School, Isasi in educational district 5 emerged the Overall Best Student while Olabiyi Ooreoluwa Glory from Ojodu Junior Grammar School in district 6 came second and Quadri Suleton Ajadi from Iba-Housing Estate Junior Secondary Schools in district 5 came third.
In the schools category, Ojodu Junior Grammar School, Dr Lucas Memorial Junior High School and Isasi Junior Grammar School came first, second and third respectively.
Awards were also presented to district champions. Idimu Junior High School from district 1 came first, Abule Eko Community Junior Grammar School from district 2 came second, Resettlement Community Junior Secondary School, Eti-Osa in district 3 came third, Gbaja Boys Junior High School from district 4 came fourth while Dr Lucas Memorial Junior High School and Ojodu Junior Grammar School came fifth and sixth respectively.