University of Nigeria Virtual Library

Serial No

ISSN: 1118-5384

Author 1 AGWAGAH, U.N.V.

Author 2 Author 3

Title Mathematics Education and Poverty Alleviation in Nigeria

Keywords

Description Mathematics Education and Poverty Alleviation in Nigeria

Category Science Education

Publisher

Association of Women in Colleges of Education

Publication Date October, 2002

Signature

JOURNAL OF %NOMEN IN CQLLEGES OF EDUCATION (40

VOLUME 6, 2002

ISSN 1118-5384

Published by Association of Women in Colleges of Education (FUCE)

All rights merved.

EDITORIAL BOARD

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Dr. N.P.M. Esomonu (Mrs.) Federal College of Education (Technical)

Umunze, Anambra State.

ASSOCIATES EDITORS Dr. (Mrs) A.A. Akambi Federal College ofEducation, Kano Dr. (Mrs) B.A. Adeniyi Federal College of Education, Abeokuta Dr. (Mrs) F.O. Ezeudu Federal College of Education, Eha-Amufu Mrs. Lucy Padung Federal College of Education, Pankshin

EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS Prof. A. Addo University of Agriculture, Abeokuta Assoc. Prof (Mrs) M.E. Chidolue Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Assoc. Prof (Mrs) Zainab Akali University ofh4aiduguri, Maiduguri

t

iii

MATHEMATICS EDUCATION AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN NIGERIA *

Dr. U. N. V. Agwagah (Mrs.) MMAN **

INTRODUCTION Mathematics is said to be a rich, vibrant, and accessible activity with

innumerable applications and uses (Bufton, 1988). It's role in the development of society has been revealed by various civilizations. For instance, by the use of mathematical ideas, the Egyptians had been able to build their world famous pyramids and had given the world its civilization. Mathematics has been employed in all aspects of engineering, industr ies. agr icul ture, communications, transportation, etc. (Abdullahi, 1988). These achievements might have been made possible by proper and adequate mathematics education. However, in spite of all these achievements, it is sad to say that the role of mathematics education is not really being felt in the hves of many citizens. Many people still remain poor, both elsewhere and in Nigeria.

Some pertinent questions that may be asked are: Why are many people poor? What accounts for the pattern of poverty? How can poverty be alleviated through mathematics education? In other words, what strategies would help to manifest the role of mathematics educat ion i n poverty alleviation? In seeking answers to these questions, this paper is organised as follows:

Meaning of Poverty * Meaning of Poverty Alleviation

Meaning of Mathematics Education * Objectives of Mathematics Education * Achieving Poverty Alleviation in Nigeria through Mathematics

Education Conclusion.

* Lend peper de l iver~d a1 the 6th Anr7ual h'ational of WICK * * Lrcturrr. Sub-Depnrrrnent of Science Education, University ofNigeritr, :~srr/,h.?

Meaning of Poverty l Poverty IS viewed as failure to meet the basic requirements of a

'decent' life (Sen. 1980). I t is a state where o w is'incapable of providing for himself/herself, ,the basic needs of life. It c w l d ' a l s o be seen as a state where one who 'has reached a level of providing himself with basic needs gf life is still depending on other people for such provision. This implies therefor% that poverty can be understood through the indicators of basic needs.

According to ILO, as quoted in Canagarajan, Ngwafon and Thomas (1997), basic needs include: food, water, shelter, health services, and learning to work. But CSER in Canagarajan et al, identified basic needs as food, nutrition, health, education, housing, and the environment, while NlSER in the same literature, regarded basic needs as food, housing, health services, public transportation, access to information, and portable water. For the World Bank (1998), poverty is mirrored in health, education, and nutrition indicators that remain too low. Thus, from the above definitions, basic needs include: food, water, shelter or housing, health services, education, transportation, etc, and anyone who cannot provide these basic needs is said to be a poor person.

In their own definition, Narayan, Patel, Schafft, Rademacher and Knoch-Schulte (2000), regarded poverty as the lack of what is necessary for material well-bding. According to them, material well-being implies especially food, housing, land and other assets. Poverty is also about access and con*umption of state-provided commodities, or what some researchers refer to as 'social wages' (Baulch, 1996b; Moore and Putzel 1999). This implies that poverty is a multidimensional social phenomenon. It never results from the lack of one thing, but from many interlocking factors. In other words, poveAy is lack of multiple resources that lead to hunger and physical deprivation. These- definitions of poverty reveal important psychological dimensions of poverty, which are powerlessness, vsicelessness and dependency that subjects the poor to exploitation (Narayan et al, 2000). Other psychological effects of poverty are insecurity, shame, sense of hopelessness, humiliation, marginalization, etc.

Poverty could be caused by unequal share of national income. This causes imbalance in the level of possessions leaving some extremely very rich, others at the middle level and others at the poverty level. Other causes of poverty ~nclude: unemployment, underemployment, laziness, retirement, business failures, initiating too much responsibilities, retrenchment of workers, lack of specialisation, pride in job selection, etc. According to Narayan et al . (2000), poverty becomes acute where there i s unemployment,

underemployment, lack of productive land or other income-earning assets. Awodede (1998), quoting the International Labour Organisation in the

International Labour Organisation World Employment Report for 1993 - 1999, stated that it is estimated that about one billion people are either unemployed or underemployed in the proportion of about one to nine. On the region-to-region basis, the low to middle income countries of the world are most hit. The European Unions' average unemployment as at May 1998, stood at 10.2%. On the average, one in every 10 workers in European Union has no job. The report, according to Awowede relies on member countries official statistics.

For Nigeria, the country's unemployment rate is put at 3.2% (Awowede, 1998). According to. this report, unemp!oyment 1s based on worsening national economy, mass retrenchment of workers and increasing business failures. If one has no earning then he cannot provide himself and his family with essentials of life, hence he becomes poor. Even the Holy Bible, according to King James (1984), in Proverbs, chapter six, verses ten and eleven, stated, "a little sleep, a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man". Folding of arm, sleep and slumber are the characteristics of an unemployed. Thus, unemployment leads to poverty.

Underemployment is another factor which accounts for poverty. According to the International Labour Organisation, as quoted by Awowede (1998), underemployment is a situation where people manage jobs below their skills and competence, a lower-paying, less fulfilling job, rather than stay out of work. From this definition, it can be observed that with underemployment, there is no job satisfaction. It is characterised by low pay and less-fulfilment. Such jobs do not permit achievement in terms of providing the employee with his basic needs, and that of his immediate nuclear family. This is worst w~ th emphasis also in extended family expectation of African and Nigerian culture. It can then be concluded that an underemployed person is not much better than the unemployed in terms of poverty level.

In some situations, one may acquire a good knowledge and skill for a job or trade, but because of laziness, he would not want to work. Such a person is fund of shar~ng or begging things, such as food and clothing. Such a person just decides to make himself poor. At times, one may not be lazy or stupid, but is seriously engaged in some business ventures, yet as a result of failures and disappointments in his business, he becomes poor.

Sometimes due to inherited poverty, children cannot be trained for

needed skills and knowledge in certain jobs which may be wailable for the employment of some of the unemployed. This can lead if the affected unemployed do not have an alternative way of engs$,ng himself.

Another factor which accounts for the poverty profile is age, in terms of retirement. Retirement is a period in which the retired person is assumed unproductive and can no longer work because of age or health problems. It is a period of compulsory unemployment. The person only hopes of survival in his retirement benefits. Any delay in the payment of the benef~t would lead to poverty. In a Newswatch, Nigeria's weekly magazine, Edo (2001), asked the following questions: "...been to Military Pension Office in Lagos recently? and he said, "the plight of ex-soldiers will draw tears." He gave a report on one Mr. Agir Teaaji who was ret~red in 1979 on accoun! of injuries he sustained during the civil war which eventually rendered him blind. Sine then, he had only received his gratu~ty and no pension has bee1 paid to him. One could imagine the situation of Mr Taaji, a blind person, after twenty-two years without pension. Yet he is expected to cater for himself and his family.

Meaning o f Poverty Alleviation: Poverty alleviation is the effort to reduce the level of poverty of the

in lgenes of a nation. to its minimal and barest state. According to Mackinnon t and Remikka (2000), a poverty reduction action plan is essentially a device to make policy more focused on and effective in reducing poverty. It is a process whereby policy statement end effort are made to improve the condition of living of the individuals classified as poor. The tools used in poverty alleviation include policy processes for identification of the poor, creating job facilities for the poor, and payment of unemployment allowance, in some advanced countries.

The goals of N~geria, as stated in it's national policy on education, are geared towards the betterment of her citizenry. Thus, the five main national goals of Nigeria, are the building of: a free and democratic society, a just and egalitarian society, a united, strong and self-reliant nation, a great and dynamic economy, and a land full of bright opportunities for all citizens (F.R.N., 1998 p.7).

No nation can attain these goals unless the lots of her citizens are greatly improved to a high standard of living. Besides, no nation can be classified as having a great and dynamic economy unless the per capita income of her citizens is above poverty level. It was to this end that the Nigerian government came out with poverty al leviabn policy statement and

programme. Under this programme, the poverty index of the nation has been tackled with increase in salary to all civil and public servants in the country. This led to the publication of the harmonised and public service salary structure (HAPSS) and allowances for the Federal public service which took ~ f f e c t from May 1, 2000. This has enabled'the civil and public servants to assist their relations who are not directly employed into public or civil service.

The government also created employment opportunities for the less privileged in an effort to alleviate poverty. Besides the creation of opportunities in the public and civil service, and the increase in salary, government has also embarked upon assisting small scale business enterprises in terms of Bgourlng loan facilities. Governments also emphasized rediversification of the geonomy to agricultural sector. She has in t h ~ s direction guaranteed loan facilities to farmers in nearly all the commercial'banks in the country.

Due to the government's poverty alleviation programme, it is common place to note that the health of public and civil servants, and their families has improved due to good feeding. A good percentage of the public servants hsa now built houses. Another remarkable effort of government in this direction is the control of the prices of building materials, which had increased by 300% at the beginning of the implementation of the new salary structure. It is also common p l a ~ e to see public servants buying and owning cars due to the implementation of poverty alleviation programme.

However, it has been agreed that the impact of an economic development strategy should be measured not only by improvements in indicators such as Gross Domestic product (GDP), growth rate of GDP, sectorial growth rate, per capita income, etc., but also by indicators of the quality of life (Measham, 1986), such as education. Thus, in spite of the improvement in poverty alleviation on the lives of people, the programme has not achieved its maximum benefits. One index of poverty, as already stated is education, and many children still do not have access to education; those who have, are performing 'very poorly, and are not achieving rtaximally, especially in mathematics education.

Meaning o f Mathematics Education: In Odili (1990), Mathematics education is regarded as the process of

shifting from methods o f teaching which has to do with acquisition of ~omputational skills to the method of learning mathematics which enhances the understanding of mathematics and its application in other fields of study and re81 life situation or world of work. For Nduanya (1993), mathematics

education may refer to the educative process of teachin< and learning mathematics. This is in consonance with Fajemidaaba.3 (1991) 2atement that mathematics education deals with the problems of the teaching and learning of mathematics at all levels of education. Also, Alele Williams (1988), regarded mathematics education as embracing the development of the subject mathematics, it's teaching and learning, the administration of it's teaching in order to maximise it's impact on the curriculum and the sqciety in general. According to Adamu (1979 p.19), mathematics education deals with:

i which parts of the body of mathematics should be brought to the attention of the learners at the various educational levels?

ii) what are, in the present socio-economic context of a country, the mathematical topics to be dealt with; the knowledge, the skil ls and the attitudes to be conveyed at each level of educational system?

iii) whether the access to mathematics should be given only through schools and institutions or it also informal programmes should be established for the benefits of the population?

The domain of mathematics education deals with all aspects of decision procedure relating to overall goals for mathematics teaching at all levels of the educational hierarchy.

b Objective of Mathematics Education:

As reported in Alele Williams (1 988), the Mathematics Association ' of Nigeria (MAN), identified the following aims in school mathematics education:

1) to help the pupils enjoy mathematics at all stages. ii) to encourage the application of the knowledge of mathematics

to ordinary problems of life. iii) to relate the subject to other fields of study.

iv) to inculcate in the pupil the habit of logical thinking, precision of thought and expression, neatness and perseverance.

3) to bring the pupils in touch with great minds in mathematics thereby encouraging the art of creative thinking. .

vi) to lay foundation for further work in mathematics. vii) to teach the mathematics related to skil ls i n various

, . . . . . . professions. , . viii) '. to teach h&esty and truth in thought and word.

. ix) As we live, in a scientific age and the approach. to -all

: : sciences becomes more mathematical, to reveal 'mathematics'

. ..~.. . . as a basis of culture and learning: . ' t, ' .+

According to Scope in Odili (1990), the goals of mathematics education are divided into three, which are: utilitarian, socio-cultural, and personal goals. Here mathematics is viewed as a weapon to achieve personal set goals which include high standard of living or living above poverty level. Hence, the objectives for teaching mathematics, that is, objectives of mathematics education, have relevance with national objectives. One wonders then what are the strategies in mathematics education that would help in achieving poverty alleviation?

Achieving Poverty Alleviation in Nigeria through Mathematics Education It is a truism that the subject of mathematics arose from the social

needs of man (Alele Williams, 1988). This supports Adamu's (1979) view that mathematics is a man's creation out of his day-to-day activities. This shows that mathematics has great capacity for man's survival, and for alleviating man's suffering. Thus, mathematics education has the potential for the reduction or eradication of poverty. However, it has been observed that there is a lack of agreement between the goals of mathematics education and the needs of the majority of the people in the special circumstances of developing countries (Damerow et al, 1986).

Mathematics education can contribute effectively towards poverty alleviation through the teaching and learning of applications of mathematics; emphasizing the relevance of mathematics modelling to real life problems; and establishing the mathematics culture. Alele Williams'(l988), asserted that the teaching and learning of proper application of mathematical tools can significantly improve some aspects of our existence. According to her, many simple and major local and national decisions can be backed by sound economic and management analysis whose theory rely almost exclusively on the principles of operations research. She noted that no organisation can afford

- - - - - to~car ry .out i t s operations.-onthe basic of trial and error, and then called on administrators to be encouraged to adopt a Scientific approach, which is also mathematical. Thus mathematics education 'enables one to acquire the mathematical approach or scientific approach for the running of one's business for higher productivity. Also, the bulk of industrial planning relies exclusively on mathematical techniques, and not on. trial and error. The mathematical techniques, such as accurate statistics, ionstitute a basic for good economic

, .. . , etrategy. .

The emphasis on the relevance of mathematics1 modelling to real life problems has also been po in ted out. ~ d e w o y e ( l 988 ) , .pointed out that

mathematics education has not made effective impact on society, especially in underdeveloped and developing countries. He then suggested one way of rectifying the situation, which is emphasizing the relevance of mathematics and mathematical modelling to real life problems. For instance, Madu (1993), discussed and illustrated the relevance of the study of mathematics in solving basic agricultural problems of Water Resources Systems Management. Specifically, he focused on the mathematics methods used in studying the response of crops to irrigation water. Since irrigation is effective in incremental food production in Nigeria, knowledge of the relevance of the study of mathematics in this regard would enable the increased production of agricultural products, which would help in reducing the level of poverty in Nigeria. The main occupation practised by over 70% of rural Nigerians is Agriculture. However, the advent of the oil economy in the 1970s helped to dwarf the contribution of agriculture to the Gross National Product of Nigeria (Okonkwo, 1990).

The role of the acquisition of mathematical methods and techniques through proper mathematics education has been variously expressed. The ancient Egyptians for instance, built a great civilization based on their scientific and technological know how, built upon the mathematical method, which enabled them to harness the 'waters' of the Nile to productive, a riculture by using irrigation methods based on the Shaduf and later on the A i himedes Screw. Thus, using simple mathemz' .;dl models, provide solutions to societal problems, 'which are largely economic. Mathematics education.2 exposes the learner to such mathematical models which they can apply l n the solution of ,the economic problems of the society.

According to Damerow et al (1986, p.134), the teaching 67'. m'athematics as' a means of solving multidisciplinary problems by using modelling methods should restore student interest, show mathematics as being useful, enrich students' knowledge of related subjects and so enable them to memorise mathematical formulas and methods, encourage logical 1

reasoning and allow more studentss-access t o a higher -1evet of -mathematics. : Another strategy through which mathematics education can contribute

in the allev~ation of poverty in Nigeria, is the establishment of mathematics culture. According to Ukeje (1990, p.4), mathematics culture means "the ability, readiness and willingness to always think and act logically, to use implications and logical deductions in our decision-making process, to be freed from prejudices and superstitions, to behave and act in accordance with the laws of cause and effect, in fact to be scientific in our behaviour and mathematical in nllr thinbinn"

The mathematical culture IS related to the screntlfic, technological, humanrstlc and polrtrcal cultures yhr le screntific culture, whose outcome IS

often for the welfare of man through the results of technolog~cal culture, studres the phystcal, biologrcal, economlc and soc~al aspect of the universe as glven to us, the mathematical culture develops a man-made universe, structured to describe and aid the study of the God-made universe whrch scientific culture deals wrth (Adamu, 1979) Thus, mathematrcs culture IS the underlying structure for solving man's problems These problems are basrcally all socral ones, and rnclude. feedrng, clothrng, houslng, and movrng from place to place Thus, poverty allevlatron In N~gerra, can only be achieved through approprrate sclentlfrc and technologrcal development backed by sound mathematlcal culture, resultrng from proper mathemat~cal education at all levels of the educatronal system. With mathematrcs educatron, puprls can extend therr understanding and knowledge, and at the same time develop those personal qualitres of self-reliance, self-discrpl~ne, apd enterpr~srng approach and the abrl~ty to solve practical real world problems, which w ~ l l stand them in good stead In later life

Conclusioni It is no doubt from the above, that poverty alleviation programme

cannot be planned, executed and evaluated wlthout mathematics, and mathematrcs education provides the avenue for the acquisition of the mathematlcal knowledge and skills Hence, mathematics education IS a pivot for successful poverty alleviation. Mathematrcs education should enable pupils, not only to apply mathematics to practical affarrs, but also to have some appreciation of those greater problems of the world, such as poverty alleviatron, the solutron of which depends on mathematics and science. There is therefore, the need for greater efforts to be made by government, professional associations such as the Mathematical Association of Nigeria (MAN) and the Science Teehers Assoc~ation of Nigeria (STAN), towards improved learnlng of mathematics, and change in attitude of learners towards mathematics

REFERENCES

Abdullahl, A (1988, Sept 2-4) A speech delivered on the occasslon of the openlng ceremony of the Nat~onal Conference Sliver Jubilee Annwersary of the Mathematical Assoc~ation of Mgeria (MAN), at UNILORIN, on 3rd Sept , 1986 Abacus 18 (I), 1 - 3

Adamu. S. 0 (1979). Mathematics In the Development of the Nigerian Society. Abacus. 14 1 - 38.

Adewoye, .T. 0. (1988). One way to make Mathematics more meaningful to Soc~ety. Abacus. 18 (I), 44 - 50.

Alele Wllllarns, G (1988) A Keynote Address delwered at the Silver Jub~lee meetmg of the Mathematlcal Assoc~atlon of N~ger~a (MAN), held at the Unlverslty of Ilorin, 2 - 4 Sept , 1986 Abacus 18 (l), 4 - 12.

Awowede, 0. (1998). Unemployment Bad News for the Nations. Tell Niqeria's Independent Weekly, 46, Nov. 16, p 40.

Baulch, Bob (1996b). The New Poverty Agenda: A Disputed Consensus. IDS Bulletin, 87 (I), 1 - 10.

Bufton, N. (1988). ~ath&atics and Environmental Education. A Common Pumose. U . K: WWF.

I,,

Canagarajan, S., Ngwafon J. 8 Saji, T. (1997). The Evolution of Poverty and Welfare .-. in Nigeria. 1985 - 92. Washington, D. C.: World Bank.

Damerow, P., Nebres, 8.. Dunkley, M., & Werry, i3. (1986). Theme Group 1: Mathematics for All In Carss, M. (ed ) Pmcesdinns of +hs Fifth Internat~onal Conqmss on Mathematical Education. Bosbn. f3Mmuser. -- .

Edo, A. (2001, Sept. 24) Dying for their Reward. Newswatch Niaefia's Weekly Magazine. p.12-14.

,7

Fajemidagba, 0. (1991). Trends in Mathematical Education in Nigeria: Issues and Problems. Abacus. 21, (I), 139-153.

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Federal Republic of Nigeria (FUN) (1998). National PoIicv on Education. Lagos' NERDC.

Krng James (1984) Proverbs, 6: 10-11. Holv Blble. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Pub.

Mackrnnon, J & Rern~kka, R (2000) Lessons from Uganda on Strategres to frght poverty Pol~cv Research Work~na Paper 2440 Washington, D C World Bank

Madu, E N (1993) Crop Response to lrrrgatron The Applrcatron of Mathematrcs In Obodo, G C (ed ). Sc~ence and Mathemat~cs Educat~on in Niqer~a Nsukka The Academrc Forum 171-175

Measham A R (1986) Health and Development. the bank's experience Flnance and Development 23, (4), p 26

Moore, M & Putzel, J (1999) Thrnkrng ~ i r a t e ~ r c a l l ~ About Polrtrcs and Poverty IDS Work~nq Paper, 101 U K lnstrtute of Development Studres, Unrversrty of Sussex

Narayan D , Patel, R , Schafft, K , Rademacher, A. & Knoch-Schulte, S (2000). Can Anyone Hear Us7 Oxford Oxford University Press

Nduanya, M 0 (1993) Applrcatron of the Admrnistrative Process to the Management of Scrence and Mathematics Educatron. In Obodo, G C (ed ). Sc~ence and Mathernat~cs Educat~on in N~qer~a Nsukka. The Academ~c Forum 197-203

Odrl~, G A (1990). Teachma Mathematm in the Secondarv School ' Obosr Anachuna Educatronal Books

Okonkwo, I C. (1990) The Effect of ~ u b l r c Investment on Private Investment rn the Nrgerran Agrrcultural Sector. In Okonkwo et al (ed ). Issues ~n Nat~onal Develo~rnent Enugu. ABK Publrshers.

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Sen, A (1980) Leva!s of ~ o v & t v . Policv and Chanae. Washington, D C : The World Bank

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, ,

VOCATIONAL, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION

Dr. C. V. Nnaka (Mrs.) "*

PREAMBLE I feel highly delighted to be invited as one of the Guest Speakers at

this opening ceremony of the 6th Annual National Conference of Women in Cdeges of Education (WICE) My contentment for this Associat~on is informed by the fact that In sp~ te of the recency of its inception, WlCE has mamtained an enviable record of organizing an annual national conference as well as publ~shing a scholarly journal on a regular basis Through these media, the Association has been contributing of fair share of its quota on Issues of nat~onal and educational importance as well as affording ample opportunity for her members to update their knowledge, skills and competence in their professional field of study and research.

Usually, conference themes and sub-themes, when f~rst encountered, often st~mulate one's thought processes in d~fferent dimensions. The drrection oqe takes is a function of the individual perspective. Thus, the sub-theme. "Vocational, Science and Technology Education and Poverty Alleviation", for whch I am to lead d~scussion on, prompted me into contemplating on the focus of rhis presentation. On this basis, I have organized t h ~ s discussion under the following sub-headings' . I

Definrtion of Key Concepts; Status 05 Technology Education in N~geria; Strategies for Effective Technology Education, Expectations from Technology Education Toward Alleviating - .

Poverty in Nigeria; Conclusion.

* Lead peper delwered a/ the .6th Annual Nalional Conference of WICE. * * Provosl. Federal College of Education (Technrcd), Umunze, Anambra State.