College students just lately sat for a arithmetic examination organised by the Nationwide Arithmetic Centre (NMC) and Nigerian Tulip Worldwide Schools throughout Nigeria to construct a future for themselves and to point out that there’s nothing to concern from the topic, report Michael Olugbode
In every of the final 21 years, college students from throughout the nation gathered to put in writing a Arithmetic examination organized by the Nationwide Arithmetic Centre (NMC) and Nigerian Tulip Worldwide Schools (NTIC) to get a scholarship and place themselves for a greater training and larger future. Many who’ve written the examination prior to now with prime marks have had an awesome profession and alternatives inside and outdoors the shores of Nigeria for distinguished employment.
Although there’s a phobia for math amongst college students, it is a crucial topic wanted in basically many every day duties. Performing real-life expertise like grocery purchasing, cooking, and monitoring funds is required on daily basis. What makes math particular is that it’s a common language — a robust instrument with the identical which means throughout the globe. Although languages divide our world, numbers unite us. Math permits us to work collectively in direction of improvements and concepts. Any critical nation wouldn’t take frivolously math growth in its college students. No surprise the creation of the Nationwide Arithmetic Centre (NMC) and making arithmetic one of many topics that college students ought to take at each main and secondary ranges of their training; even a department of arithmetic, statistics and quantitative evaluation is necessary for college students on the graduate and undergraduate ranges. Even with the phobia, it’s instructive that nobody can run away from arithmetic, whether or not at school or the big area of society.
To construct curiosity in arithmetic and subsequently place Nigeria on the trajectory of growth and group, the NTIC and NMC, within the final 21 years, have been organizing the Annual Nationwide Arithmetic Competitors (ANMC) throughout Nigeria.
This yr was no exception as college students in Main 5, 6 to JSS 1, II, and III gathered at 35 centres in 30 states to compete for scholarships to review on the Nigerian Tulip Worldwide Schools (NTIC) and subsequently a chance to get a scholarship to review inside and outdoors the nation.
The scholars and their dad and mom have been all beaming with hope that the competitors was a basis for an awesome future.
Whereas commending the organisers, one of many dad and mom, Omotayo Rubangs, stated the competitors had constructed curiosity in arithmetic in lots of youngsters in Nigeria, noting that his son (Daniel) has needed to put together for the competitors constantly. She stated she could be glad if he’s amongst these chosen, for it could provide him a chance to additional enhance in his old flame, arithmetic and create a path to nice issues taking place to him.
The taking part college students Jane Anemelu and Nedum Nice, talking on their preparedness and expectations, stated they’ve needed to be coached for additional hours by their academics for the examinations, which gained’t do, particularly as there are prizes slated to be gained by academics and colleges too primarily based on the efficiency of scholars. Each Jane and Nedum and lots of different college students stated they imagine the highest prizes are theirs.
A few of the prime performers handed the competitors and at the moment are on full scholarship at NTIC, amongst them Festus Nwakuche of Pyramid Studying Academy, Anambra State, Ifunanya Nwanegbo of Mabel Divine Worldwide Science, Anambra, Isioma Iduh of Asagba Main Faculty, Asaba, Delta and Luis Lu of Kerridale Preparatory Faculty, Port Harcourt, Rivers stated the scholarship had provided them nice alternatives and have additional constructed their functionality in math, they stated they’re given additional tuition that has enabled them to take part and win at native and worldwide math competitors, all of them stated they’re able to go for programs in arithmetic and arithmetic associated fields.
Talking on the competitors, the Managing Director of NTIC, Mr Fevzullah Bilgin, stated: “Aside from successful prizes at ANMC, we hope that the competitors will ignite the fervour for varied inspiration and innovation within the subject of arithmetic and different sciences within the coronary heart of the younger ones. We stay up for them fulfilling their goals of their chosen fields and careers.”
He defined that it was a maths examination in Nigeria, a nationwide competitors for main 5 and 6 pupils and junior secondary faculty college students. It is a competitors that NTIC organises in collaboration with the Nationwide Arithmetic Centre (NMC). The significance of this competitors and arithmetic is that in right this moment’s society, we’d like clever individuals who have excessive problem-solving expertise, are artistic, and have management expertise and finding out arithmetic makes these college students extra clever and make them have a excessive stage of problem-solving expertise and these items permit for college students to be extra profitable and enhanced.
Bilgin famous that NTIC and NMC collaborated to organise this competitors, and ANMC to attain this. We’ve been doing that in Nigeria for 21 years.
“So, for 21 years, the scholars in numerous colleges in Nigeria have been getting ready for this competitors and have been sitting for it. This competitors has a sturdy historical past and is the most important within the nation. I can inform you that ANMC has been serving to college students in numerous colleges; a whole bunch of colleges and hundreds of scholars have been taking this examination, and it’s demystifying arithmetic,” acknowledged Bilgin. “It’s serving to the scholars be taught and research and turn out to be profitable in arithmetic. In consequence, it’s a veritable contribution to arithmetic training and lecturers total in Nigeria.”
He defined that NTIC is the sponsor and organiser of this competitors and, in fact, the precious contribution of NMC can’t be underestimated. It is necessary, and they’re doing quite a bit to deliver it to this stage. Our greatest contribution to this competitors is just not within the organisation however what comes after it. That is the scholarship programme that we’re having. 1000’s of scholars participate within the competitors, and yearly, we give full scholarships to 32 college students till commencement from SS3. I can inform you that 144 college students are at the moment benefiting from this competitors. It is a nice funding for Nigeria’s future. It’s an open competitors for any faculty and pupil within the nation. We’ve been organizing for 21 years, and right this moment is the primary spherical; hundreds of scholars from 27 completely different states in Nigeria are taking part within the competitors and in April, we’re going to have our second spherical; profitable college students from the primary spherical will come to compete for the second spherical. On the finish of the second spherical, prime college students would qualify for the scholarship. There are additionally some financial prizes for the profitable college students and their academics and prizes for the colleges like computer systems, photocopiers and printers. It’s incentivising arithmetic for the scholars, the academics and the colleges.”
On the influence of the competitors and scholarship, he stated: “I had a pupil who got here for the competitors, and he graduated in 2012, and he was given admission into MIT with a scholarship, and he went there and have become one of many best-graduating college students with 4 out 4 GPA, after commencement, he was given employment in Google Canada, he’s there to this present day. A woman was given a scholarship in Kano. She got here and graduated and was given admission into Uthman Dan Fodio College. She studied arithmetic there and was the perfect graduating pupil on the college. As a feminine pupil, she broke the college’s 42-year document and was given a scholarship to a college within the US due to her success. She additionally received 4 out of 4, the perfect GPA, so she was given a scholarship to Florida College for her PhD. If not for her preliminary scholarship, she couldn’t have grown.
The competitors has additionally attracted varied personalities with wonderful data of arithmetic from completely different colleges, cultural backgrounds, ethnicities, and religions.
The Assistant Coordinator of the Abuja Centre of the Competitors (Nigerian Tulip Worldwide Faculty, Wuse), Shahbaz Malik, revealed that the first goal of ANMC is to check the scholars’ problem-solving and mathematical reasoning talents. It gives younger mathematicians from all around the nation alternatives to compete in difficult mathematical issues, constructing their confidence and love for arithmetic. He added that the competitors additionally provides scholarship awards.
He defined that ANMC contains two rounds of problem-solving. Qualifiers from the 2 geo-political zones will proceed to the second spherical of the competitors. The highest-performing college students will obtain money prizes, scholarships, and different awards within the second spherical. The academics and colleges of the qualifiers within the second spherical can even obtain prizes. He added that the winners may have entry to full tuition price scholarship alternatives at Nigerian Tulip Worldwide Schools.
Win or lose, the preparation for the examination has constructed curiosity within the college students, chased the phobia of arithmetic away, and equally sown the seeds of confidence and achievability in younger college students and set the nation on a trajectory of growth. Who says that NTIC and NMC should not contributing something of value to Nigeria?
