The Bayelsa government says it is prioritising the teaching and learning of Ijaw, French and Chinese languages as well as science and mathematics in public schools in the state.
The Deputy Governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, disclosed this during a courtesy visit by the state chapter of the Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN) on Wednesday in Government House in Yenagoa.
He explained that the government was emphasising the teaching of the three languages, and the core science subjects, including mathematics, to prepare and equip the children to take full advantage of career opportunities in those subjects.
According to the deputy governor, the growing economic influence of China in global affairs as a major state actor in world trade and commerce, justifies the inclusion of Chinese as a subject in the school curriculum.
He said : “I am happy for the programme you are introducing. For us, we have made it compulsory; we are pursuing STEM because we believe that with that, the negative impression of Bayelsa State would change sooner or later.
“We will really be available for anything you want us to do from the government angle. As I told you earlier, in our teachers recruitment we deliberately laid emphasis on science, ICT and mathematics.
“We are recruiting more teachers in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, agric science and computer science. The other subjects we are placing priority on are: Chinese, French and Ijaw languages.”
Ewhrudjakpo, who charged the members of APWEN to make team work their watchword to achieve their objectives as a professional body, urged them to also include male students in their programmes.
He explained that the engineering career requires a lot of hard work for one to be awarded fellowship, urging the Association to work together in closer synergy to gain more visibility in the male-dominated profession.
He advised APWEN to redouble their effort at marketing the engineering profession to the girl-child at the secondary level for more female students to embrace and develop interest in engineering as a course of study and profession.
The deputy governor appreciated the national and state executive councils of APWEN for honouring him with awards in recognition of his contributions to the growth and development of the engineering profession in the state and the country in general.
According to him, “For everything you are committed to do, do it as much as you can. I always tell people to be peaceful, to be prayerful, have a positive attitude, courageous, put in effort, and to be determined.
“Your profession is one that requires a lot of hard work. For you to be inducted as a fellow, real hard work is required in this profession unlike politics where anybody is given any position.
“Once you are not together as a team you will fail. Together everyone achieves more. That is what teamwork is all about. Nobody is an island; a tree standing alone can’t make a forest. I want you to continue to work as a team.”
Earlier in their separate remarks, the state chairman of APWEN, Diepreye Owana-Omubo, and the vice chairman, Dr Ann Jonathan-Obuebitei, said the association was doing everything to push its corporate social responsibility project aimed at introducing the girl child to engineering at the basic education level.
They commended the state government for establishing more technical colleges and the recruitment of science and mathematics teachers to promote science technology engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in the state.
Jonathan-Obuebite specifically thanked the deputy governor for his unrelenting support to the Bayelsa chapter of APWEN, which had helped it to gain a lot of recognition and prominence at the national level.
The highpoint of the visit was presentation of two special awards to the deputy governor by the National President of APWEN, represented by the state vice chairman, Jonathan-Obuebite, and State APWEN Chairman, Owana-Omubo, respectively