FGCs move to break phobia for Mathematics among students

Mathematics teachers in Federal Government Colleges (FGCs) have resolved to break the fear of Mathematics among students, create friendly link between them and the teachers to make them appreciate the subject, understand it with ease and improve their scores.

They reached the resolution in Port Harcourt during a Teachers’ Training Conference of the South-South and South East zones organised by the Federal Ministry of Education in collaboration with Academic Pathfinder (ACAPAT) Solution Limited at the Federal Government College (FGC), Rumuigbo in Rivers State.

Speaking on Breaking The Math-Phobia, Principal of FGC, Port Harcourt, Mrs. Inyang Ukpe, said the training would enable teachers and educational administrators to learn how best to support students with a view to overcoming their negative attitude towards the subject.

Her words: “Most students have mixed feelings about Mathematics, they see it as a frustrating subject, especially for many children, who have problems with computation and application.

“It is a big concern for us, so by this training, the concerned teachers and administrators will begin to support students to overcome their phobia.”

She noted that the move would make students wage a successful war against Mathematics and emerge victorious, just as she expressed the hope that it would have greater impact on the students’ results.

“At the FGC, Port Harcourt, Mathematics has always reduced our ranking, so having many teachers participate in this training, will greatly impact the students and our results will be better,” she added.

Facilitator of the conference and Academic Director of ACAPAT, Idodo Blessing, noted that the essence of the conference was to discuss the fear of Mathematics among students, root causes, symptoms and ways to overcome it.

Idoho stressed that the only way to overcome Mathematics phobia was through intensive effort by all stakeholders and urged the teachers to put into practice what they have learnt in helping their students to overcome the phobia.

Mathematics educator at the FGC, Odi, Bayelsa State, said dispelling the students fright for Mathematics was indeed quite challenging.

Also, Head of Mathematics Department, Federal Government Girls College (FGGC), Calabar, Cyprian Ekwelike, commended the Federal Ministry of Education for the initiative.

“With all pleasure, I recommend the training in all secondary schools, because it is motivating, revealing and enlightening. I commend the Ministry of Education and ACAPAT for the workshop,” he said.