The Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike,? on Thursday said? the poor performance of students in mathematics and English Language had given the Federal Government cause for concern.
Wike made the statement in Abuja at a meeting of the Steering Committee on Strengthening Mathematics and Science Education (SMASE) Nigeria Project.
He said that if Nigeria was to attain its vision 20:2020, improving teaching and learning in mathematics, English language and sciences would be vital.
The minister said that poor performance in the subjects, especially at the basic level, would hamper the building of a solid foundation for the Nigerian child.
He said the role mathematics and sciences played in building human capacity for national development in a technology-driven global economy could not be over-emphasised.
Wike said the meeting would enable the committee to assess the project and its implementation to take decisions on the success of the second phase of the project.
He urged the committee to ensured full implementation of the activities ear-marked in the project document.
He also urged the Department of Technology and Science Education to work with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and other stakeholders to evolve strategies to enhance timely completion of the project.
“The report of our Japanese counterpart of April last year for the mid-term review evaluation of the project, drew my attention to the challenges of the project.
“It made me to constitute a bilateral task team to assess the progress of the report on the? project, identify the gaps and challenges based on the assessment.
“I, therefore, proposed strategies for accelerating the process of the project implementation and to prepare a memo to the National Economic Council on the SMASE Nigeria Project”.
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