By DAYO ADESULU

The approach which many students adopt in studying Mathematics as a school subject is wrong and this accounts for their failure is this all-important subject at both internal and external examinations.

According to Mrs Bamidele Ayansiji, a mathematics teacher of many years and the Proprietress of Abbot Dayspring Schools, Lagos , mathematics is a subject student need to practice every day which will not only enhance their understanding of the subject but will also enable them to cover the syllabus.

She says: “Mathematics cannot be learnt like other subjects. A secondary school student may not read his or her Geography, Commerce, Economics, Literature-In-English, History or CRK notebooks or textbooks until a few days to the examination and will still pass. But such a student will fail mathematics with this approach. Maths is an everyday affair. A student has to practice it everyday before he or she can pass it “.

Ayansiji counsels further: “Problem solving is the best solution to mathematics. Teachers cannot solve all the mathematical problems in the classrooms. That is why assignments are given to students. It thus becomes the responsibility of students to solve the problems at home.

Mathematics, she says, requires diligence on the part of the student. But most students fail it because they are not diligent and not necessarily because they don’t have the brain to pass it, adding that the reading culture of students is so poor these days to the extent that ,many senoir secondary school students indulge in watching films and English Football Premiership after school hours to the detriment of their studies.

Cross section of Students and Proprietress of Abbot Schools at the Open Day

Parents, according to her, have important roles to play in improving the performances of their  children in mathematics by ensuring that all necessary textbooks are purchased, adding that since a credit pass in maths is required for admission into almost all the courses in higher institutions, parents must indulge in guiding the children to read at home  and to drum the importance of the subject to their ears all the time.

Ayansiji, who taught mathematics at public school for over 20 years, counsels parents not to support giving assistance to students in external examinations but to complement the efforts of the school management in instilling self-confidence in the students.

“At Abbot, the emphasis is on reading culture. Our students, especially those in senior secondary classes, are told all the time to fully utilize their mental potentials by reading, telling them that they can pass the SSCE unaided if they work hard on daily basis since the questions are set within the syllabus. We also let them realise that if they can pass internal examinations from Jss1 to SS3, then they can pass the final SSCE without any assistance.”