The Kaduna State Government has procured 326 mobile teaching aids and intervention laboratories for science teachers in basic and secondary schools in the state.
The Commissioner for Education, Hajiya Halima Lawal, made this known in Kaduna on Saturday at a one-day training on the use of the equipment to promote science education in the state.
Lawal, who was represented by Mrs Aisha Mohammed, Deputy Director, Special Education, explained that the 326 teaching aids, invented by the Federal University of Technology, Minna (FUT Minna) would be distributed to 276 secondary schools across the state.
She said that the provision of quality, equitable and accessible science, technical and vocational education remains priority of the Kaduna State Government.
She pointed out that to achieve this noble objective, the state requires an effective, functional, and productive education system through the provision of modern teaching and learning facilities.
The commissioner recalled that the government had in 2019 procured and distributed 460 units of the multifunctional mobile science teaching aids to 361 schools.
According to her, the tremendous improvement in the teaching and learning of sciences in public schools informed the decision of the ministry to procure more of the equipment for its effectiveness and portability.
“This innovation has significantly changed the narratives in the conduct of science practical, students’ performance in both internal and external examinations.
“I assure you that Gov. Nasir El-Rufai led-administration will continue to put in place all the necessary resources for the improvement of quality, equitable and accessible education at all levels in the state.”
The Vice-Chancellor, FUT Minna, Prof. Abdullahi Bala, said that the teaching aids would be game changer in the conduct of practical science leading to improved quality of delivery and improved student’s performance.
Bala, who was represented by Dr Sadiq Lawal, the inventor of the teaching aids, said that they had been patented as Science Education Mobile Intervention Laboratory.
Lawal, of the Mechanical Engineering Department of FUT Minna, described the user-friendly equipment as “science educational demonstration, experiment, display and instructional materials” that aids the teaching and learning of sciences.
Lawal explained that the equipment, which could be used in the absence of a laboratory, provided a multifunctional interface for a variety of experiments for all science subjects.
The Director, FUTMIN Ventures, Malam Aminu Ashafa, said that FUT Minna had been on the forefront of novel researches, not only for staff promotion, but for providing solutions to societal problems.
“This project is just one of the many inventions by our faculty members aimed at making the teaching of science subjects easier for teachers and for the students to comprehend with ease,” he said. (NAN)