Government News Source|8 July 2019
Cross River State Universal Basic Education Board (CR-SUBEB), in collaboration with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and the Federal Ministry of Education (FME), have flagged off the Strengthening Mathematics and Science Education (SMASE) Cycle 3 workshop for Science and Mathematics Teachers in Cross River State, at the College of Education, Akamkpa Local GovernmentArea.
The exercise which is a 2 week training programme for primary school teachers with the theme “Actualizing the gains of SMASE for Improved Teaching & Learning ” kicked off today, 1st July and will come to a close on the 16th of July, 2019.
While declaring the event open, the Executive Chairman, State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Stephen Odey, commended the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) for providing funds used for the training and also extended gratitude to other Stakeholders for their various contributions.
The Chairman who was represented by the Director of Administration, Emmanuel Ojong, urged all trainees to actively participate so that the results of the workshop would be beneficial to teachers, pupils and the basic education sub-sector in general.
According to him “SUBEB considers this training as a matter of utmost importance. This is because having passed through the last 2 cycles of training as science and mathematics teachers , you are adequately prepared for the cycle 3 training which is the actualization of the knowledge gained from previous trainings. I implore every participant to be fully involved in every activity in order to make the training a huge success.”
Speaking at the Opening ceremony, the National Coordinator, Strengthening Mathematics and Science Education (SMASE), Federal Ministry of Education, Chimezie Aguiyi, stated that the first phase of SMASE Nigeria Project captured 3 pilot states (Kaduna, Plateau and Niger) and as a result of its success, the Federal Ministry of Education extended it to other states.
He said since the phase 2 of the project which was in collaboration with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) ended in 2014, the Nigerian Government has been sustaining the project and there has been continuous expansion of SMASE Nigeria project in the pilot and non-pilot States.
Aguiyi who was represented by a member of the SMASE National Coordinating Unit, Federal Ministry of Education, Clement Okedo, urged participants not to slack in their responsibilities as teachers, and called on them to actively participate in the 2-weeks training programme to enable them cascade same to other teachers in their respective zones.
He commended Cross River SUBEB, UBEC, and NTI for their immense support in seeing to the sustainability of the project nationwide through regular funding, monitoring and evaluation.
Senior Education Officer, UBEC, Abuja, Nneka Abalu said she was here to monitor the training on-behalf of UBEC to ensure that things are properly done.
She called on participants to put the training to good use.”We did not come here to play, we know how much the Federal Government is putting into education. So, I appeal to everyone to take this training seriously. UBEC is committed to support and promote the growth of education in the country,” she emphasized.
The Director, Academic Services SUBEB, Margaret Mgbeje said the training will equip teachers who she described as “foot soldiers” with skills and modern approaches in teaching mathematics and science.
According to her “you are here to tap from the knowledge from the State trainers who have undergone several trainings in NTI Kaduna and other places. Seize this opportunity and get as much as you can from them, concentrate and get the best out of this training programme,” she emphasized.
the SMASE in service training (INSET) which is a system of re-training teachers in the delivery of mathematics and science curricula is organised on a three-tier (National, State and Local) cascading system and School Based Training(SBT).
National trainers, train state trainers, who train core teachers in their respective states and at the local level, core teachers train classroom teachers selected from schools across the state.
The SMASE Nigeria Project involves 200 participants in a 2-week training session at the State in-service training level.