Mental Arithmetic System to be Part of Schools’ Curriculum, Says Solarin

A former Director, National Mathematical Centre (NMC), Professor Adewale Solarin has disclosed that the Abacus system of mental calculation will soon be introduced into the Nigerian primary and secondary school curriculum.

The Professor of Mathematics and Head, Education and ICT Directorate, Growth and Development Foundation (GDF), made this known, recently during the closing ceremony of the two-hands system of Abacus Mental Arithmetic training for secondary school teachers in Remoland, Ogun State, themed ‘Advancing the Education Landscape in Remoland’.

The programme was organised by the Remo Growth and Development Foundation (GDF), in partnership with the International Academy for the Gifted Programmes (IAGIFTED).

Speaking on the reason for introducing the Abacus system of mental calculation, Solarin said its origin in Nigeria and Africa dated about 10 years ago or a little earlier, when the Chief Executive of the National Mathematical Centre then, Professor Sam Allen; having seen its importance, invited some Asians to train some students and teachers at the centre.

“At that time I was the trainer of the Nigerian team for the International Maths Olympia, so when we went for the Olympia, for two, three years, I observed that the Asians were always leading and getting all the gold medals. I did a further investigation and found out that the mental arithmetic they used during the competition. They started from age five and running through the basic education to age 15 and that’s why when I became chief executive. I then decided to train and develop the concept of the Nigerian version, so everything you are seeing here is totally Nigerian except the Abacus.”

He said what the trainers achieved in two weeks was more than what the original trainers achieved in four weeks.

“In fact when we gave them reports of this they couldn’t believe it because they wanted us to have a franchise so that all the materials will be coming from them. We said no because if we were to go with that actually, public school children would not have been able to be part of this, but only private schools would have been able to afford it. So that’s why we developed the Nigerian concept and it’s fantastic.”

On how to get the Abacus, Solarin said the previous ones were imported, adding that making it in Nigeria would not be difficult for plastic companies in the country.

Continuing on the history of Abacus in Nigeria, he said,“it started about 10 years ago in Nigeria and since then, we have been developing it. When I was Chief Executive of the National Mathematical Centre, we actually ran this programme in most of the states and right now I think NMC, currently the chief executive is still pushing it further and now it is going into the curriculum so you would soon see it as part of the curriculum for mathematics from primary school to secondary schools all over Nigeria,” Solarin said.

In his remarks, the National Coordinator IAGIFTED, Oyebola Fabowale, lauded the initiative and the two weeks training programme, saying, “over the years we have been having something like this. This two-week programme is designed to bring up to speed these children when it comes to this mental arithmetic thing, just like if you have a recap to the olden days where you have this arithmetic multiplication table once you are asked a question, you are asked to respond immediately.”

On the relevance of Abacus in the current educational curriculum, Fabowale said “it is relevant in the sense that it energises the inner mind, the brain, the mental alertness is there and secondly, the children that tend to be docile, the seemingly lethargic ones you know they get themselves tuned to apt responses.”