Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State

Worried by the perception of mathematics as a difficult subject resulting in mass failure during examinations, the Plateau government has organised an arithmetic workshop for students in public schools.

According to Mr Joseph Mairiga, the Commissioner for Secondary Education, 120 students are participating in the first phase which began on Monday in Jos.

“The workshop is aimed at instilling confidence in the students during mathematics examinations; we intend to do that by guiding them on how to understand and solve given problems,” he said.

Mairiga said that the workshop, organised in collaboration with the National Mathematics Centre, Abuja, has the theme: “ABACUS Mental Arithmetic/Mathematics Improvement.”

“The programme is designed to remove nervousness in students when tackling mathematics because their poor performance at examinations is worrisome,” he said.

He explained that the workshop was a pilot scheme with 120 students drawn from two schools in Jos North Local Government Area.

“We intend to organise subsequent workshops, either annually or biannually, because mathematics is a core subject for all disciplines,” he said.

The commissioner listed focal topics to include Area of Plane Shapes, Directed numbers, Construction and Factorization, among others. (NAN)