International Day of Mathematics.
Making Ghana a Mathematics-friendly nation: A key to our national development agenda
International Day of Mathematics.
In November 2019, the United Nations Education,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation named 14th March of
every year as the International Da y of Mathematics.
This was in recognition of the central role Mathematics has in our lives.
Prior to that, the day had been celebrated as World Pi Day,
after the famous mathematical constant, the first
three digits of which are 3.14. In the American rendering,
3.14 is March 14th, hence the choice of that date.
The date also has great significance for two of the
most celebrated figures in science.
On 14th March, 1879, Albert Einstein was born.
Just 26 years later, the publication of his
Annus Mirabilis papers changed physics and altered
how we conceive light, matter, time and space.
It is also the date on which another giant of science died.
Professor Stephen Hawkins’ research on black holes and the
big bang tremendously expanded our understanding of the universe.
The term mathematics derives from the Greek word
“mathema” which means “knowledge,”
an indication of the centrality of the subject to
all scholarships. The study of mathematics is essentially
a study of four major related concepts.
- We study numbers and how things can be counted;
- Structure or how things are organised (algebra);
- Where things are and how they are arranged (geometry);
- or how things change or become different (analysis).
Why study Mathematics -International Day of Mathematics.
The study of mathematics helps develop essential skills;
that are useful for living life meaningfully.
These skills include creativity, critical and spatial thinking,
investigation and problem solving and the ability to
grasp abstract concepts. Without mathematics, our lives
, I daresay, would be journeys from chaos to catastrophe
with no sense of the distance between them and no
conception of the magnitude of these disasters.
For the first commemoration in 2020,
UNESCO chose the theme ‘Mathematics is Everywhere’.
This year, it has chosen ‘Mathematics for a better world’.
Both themes show how mathematics is suffused into
the humdrum of our daily lives.
Professions relying on Mathematics – International Day of Mathematics.
When we think of professions that rely on the subject,
we tend to think of engineers and scientists.
But mathematics is useful to a lot more of us.
- The seamstress cannot cut her patterns without mathematical concepts such as measurement.
- The fishmonger cannot sell his produce without mathematical concept of arithmetic.
- At home, we could not serve our potions of food if we didn’t employ mathematics.
- In politics, we could not determine the winner of an election, or which side in parliament is the majority without mathematics.
Mathematics as a difficult subject – International Day of Mathematics.
Owing mostly to challenges with the mode of instruction
and assessment, many children come to view mathematics
as a difficult subject. This directly affects the number of
people willing to take it up as a discipline in later life.
This, in turn, affects the number and quality of personnel
available to careers and disciplines that rely on
mathematics and its applications.
When one surveys the broad spectrum of innovation
and technological advancements that now define our
very lives, we can see the fascinating hand of mathematics
guiding all of them. From the inexhaustible store of
knowledge that is google,
to the wonders of artificial intelligence,
we see the transformational effects of applied mathematics.
Mathematics has been key in the efforts to sequence
the Coronavirus, as our own scientists at Noguchi did last year.
This has helped in understanding the nature of the
virus and in developing the vaccines and
therapeutics that are helping save lives.
Unlike their counterparts in countries such as Korea,
Japan and Singapore, Ghanaian children struggle
to demonstrate a conceptual understanding of
basic mathematical principles.
The manner of instruction and assessment,
it has been found, focuses on the memorisation and
recitation at the expense of problem solving and
application of mathematical knowledge to everyday contexts,
which are the true values of studying mathematics.
Ghana children performs poorly in mathematics
International comparative studies, such as the
Trends in International Science and Mathematics Study (TIMSS)
have consistently shown Ghanaian pupils performing poorly,
with over eighty percent unable to meet basic benchmarks
of mathematical competence.
The Ghana National Education Assessment of 2016
showed that less than 25 percent of Ghanaian pupils
met the proficiency cut-point in P4 and P6 mathematics.
A review of Ghanaian pupils’ performance in mathematics
tests revealed that they are quite comfortable with
computations and algorithms.
Unfortunately, they are unable to apply the principles
of these operations to mathematical problem solving.
Why Ghana children performs poorly in Mathematics
This has been attributed to factors such as inadequate
teaching and learning materials as well as insufficient
instructional time. Also to blame are an overcrowded
curriculum and the poor training of teachers.
We can resolve most of these by applying more
resources and changing the nature of curriculum,
instruction and assessment.
Why Ghanaian children dislike Mathematics – International Day of Mathematics.
A study by S.D Gyang, ‘Mathematics Education in
Proposed Junior Secondary School in Ghana’
found that the manner of instruction of mathematics
discouraged students. Many of us would recognise
the phenomena described in the study such as the
early morning drills known as “mental”
that often led to painful punishments for erring students.
It is no wonder that many of us have less than fond
memories of the subject and why so few,
some four decades after the study,
are still wary of taking up this necessary challenge.
Making Mathematics a friendly subject – International Day of Mathematics.
Central to our efforts to bring mathematics into
the mainstream where it should be, would be an
overhaul of the way in which the subject is taught.
I am happy to observe that we are making some
efforts in that direction. As former Director General
of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment,
I can report that the new standards-based curriculum
that we developed and is currently in operation,
directly addresses this problem. And as someone whose
first love was and is mathematics,
I take particular pride in this fact.
Improving the teaching and learning of Mathematics
I am also heartened by efforts that the government
is making to improve the teaching and learning of
mathematics in the country. Through the Science,
Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics Centers,
the national numeracy program in collaboration with
Matific and other technology-based initiatives such
as iBox, the Ministry of Education is working to make
the study of mathematics more fun and attractive to students.
In addition, the Mathematics and Science for
Sub-Sahara program by the World Bank,
which Ghana has signed on to, will help improve
teachers’ content knowledge, pedagogical
practices and the use of teaching and learning
materials to boost children’s understanding of
mathematical concepts.
Ghanaians are talented in Mathematics
It is not as if we do not have the talent.
Only last year, Roni Adom Edwin, a,17-year-old Ghanaian,
won bronze at the annual Mathematical Olympiad,
where he was also the highest scoring African student.
It is our hope that Master Edwin and other prodigies
like him will come to walk in the shoes of our pre-eminent
mathematician, the late, great and celebrated
Professor Francis Kofi Ampenyin Allotey.
In his storied life and career, Professor Allotey
came to exemplify excellence in the discipline not
only here in Ghana but around the world.
From relatively humble beginnings in Saltpond in
the Central Region, he rose to the very top of his field.
He was the first Ghanaian to become a full professor
of mathematics, head of the Department of Mathematics
and later Dean of the Faculty of Science at the
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Tehnology.
He became famous for the “Allotey Formalism”
which arose from his work on soft X-ray spectroscopy.
Professor Allotey helped bring computer education to
the masses around Africa. In 2004, he was listed among 100
physicists and mathematicians cited in the book,
‘One hundred reasons to be a scientist,’
the only African to make the list.
Indeed, Professor Allotey and his globally renowned
exploits are a shining example and encouragement
to all our young people, no matter the discipline that
they choose to apply themselves to. In seeking to
improve our participation and performance in mathematics,
the late professor’s distinguished career will be a necessary part.
That is why today, I am calling for Ghana to name 9th August,
the date of his birth, as National Mathematics Day,
in honour of his unbelievable achievements and also
as a challenge and encouragement to young talents
in the country to reach for similar accomplishments.
In doing this, we will be celebrating a true national hero
while sowing the seeds for the growth of his successors.
Mathematics is as central to the course of development
as it is in our personal lives. We can guarantee our prosperity
as a nation by investing in mathematics, improving the
teaching and learning of it and assisting those
who want to make a career in it.
Revolution in Mathematics.
A generation from now, we could be in the midst
of a boom in innovation and enterprise, birthed by
a revolution in mathematics. That future is ours to reach for.
It is one we must aim for. And it is a future that I
hope we can start to prepare for from today,
as we mark the International Day of Mathematics.
The writer is the Member of Parliament for Kwesimintsim
and the former Director General of the National Council for
Curriculum and Assessment. He holds a PhD in Mathematics
Education and has over a decade of experience teaching
mathematics across various age grades.
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