CASIO to Enhance Maths Skills of 1,300 Nigerian Teachers

Mary Nnah

An initiative that will contribute to the transformation of the country’s education sector has just been put in place with the launch of training for mathematics teachers in Nigeria.

The Maths Teachers Training in Nigeria initiative known as THE GAKUHAN is an initiative of CASIO, one of the leading manufacturers of scientific and practical calculators for educational purposes and a wide range of other applications.

Put together to enhance the capacity of teachers and the learning of students in mathematics, the initiative for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) teachers, which has been implemented across the world, was recently launched in Nigeria.

Organised by School Kits Limited, CASIO’s authorised distributor in Nigeria, in partnership with CASIO, the programme held in Lagos and would consequently spread to other parts of the country. The maiden edition is the beginning of CASIO’s plan to train over 1,300 teachers within the next three years.

According to the Managing Director, School Kits Limited, Mrs. Temilola Adepetun, the initiative will be carried out through the provision of training, online resources and other CSR activities, adding that the initiative is commendable and will lead to the transformation of the education sector.

“This will be very impactful because we are teaching 21st century students and the partnership with Casio will come a long way. If a teacher or student doesn’t know how to manipulate the calculator, he or she won’t know how to tackle some questions. In the long run, I think this training will help improve the performance of students in mathematics across Nigeria.”

She expressed hope that the training would add significant value to the development of maths and science education through capacity development and knowledge share for the teachers and by extension, students across Nigeria.

Adepetun explained that School Kits is a fully integrated educational supplies company, established in 2000 and focused on delivering a wide range of best-in-class school materials to students across all levels of education. She said it has used its multi-store retail channel, online presence, as well as wholesale platform to reach out to its target audience over the last 19 years.

She promised that the company will remain a champion for initiatives geared towards empowering Nigerian students and teachers, thus plans are underway to sign an agreement with local partners such as established educational institutions and teacher associations in Nigeria to firm up its commitment to achieve its objectives for capacity development.

Speaking on the new technologies that CASIO is looking at deploying during the training, the Business Development Manager, Middle East, CASIO, Elie Karen said the theme for the training is ‘Supporting Maths and Science Teaching with New Technologies.
“In Casio, we are not only developing a product for the commercial side, we have an educational department that focuses on the development of the product for the education, a new technology to support the classroom. That is why we have developed Casio tab, which is software that could be used to solve mathematical and practical equations online.

“We have an online platform that gathers all global maths teachers, where we have developed this programme. So, it is like an online platform where teachers will register and be members. We share some educational materials that share the experience and problem solving that have been faced in other countries and how these teachers have been solving these problems,” Karen added.

The Chairman, Mathematics Association of Nigeria (MAN), Jimoh Ishola Taylor said: “This is a new programme and Casio products have been in circulation. Students are familiar with Casio. With the new technologies inbuilt in the system, it is a function of time, training and function of the numbers of the new calculator they have brought into the system. I am sure it will be very impactful. With the previous ones that were used by our students, we know the level of usage.”
He said it is one of the duties of MAN to continue to update the curriculum to meet local and international standards.