Nothing harassed and destabilized me in my secondary school years as Maths and Physics. Trigonometry. Linear equations. Calculus. Algebra. Velocity. Magnetism. Oscillations. These made me unhappy.
Somehow I wasn’t that bad with Chemistry or Biology. But the dislike for Maths and science is phenomenal among students in Ghana. And yet, numbers count, literally; and our understanding of these scientific concepts enables us to know ourselves and conquer our environment, and make more of our limited days on earth.
So if Math and science are that important to our survival as humans, why then must it be so complicated for so many? Who’s got the formula wrong: is it the teachers or the learners/students?
Tonight, we’re taking math and science out of the classroom and bringing it to a bar. We want to solve the math and science problem over drinks and finger foods, having failed to do so eating the tips of our pens and pencils in class.
I’ve got an excellent panel: Lucy Quist is an Engineer and CEO of Airtel. More importantly, she’s a strong advocate of Science, Technology and Maths education (STEM) especially among girls; Jane Egerton-Idehen is also a Nigerian Engineer who works with Ericsson in Ghana. She’s always loved Maths and science; and Professor Sitsofe Anku is a mathematician. He runs a private math academy.
