The Federal Government on Wednesday said it has taken steps to print one million science textbooks to boost the integration of science courses among students at the basic school level.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Gas, Heineken Lokpobiri, disclosed the plan after the Federal Executive Council meeting.
He explained that the project would be executed through the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF).
According to Lokpobiri, there is a discovery that students are lagging behind in science courses, a development that is creating gaps in technology advancement.
The minister said, “Today, we brought a memo on behalf of the PTDF, which is the Petroleum Technology Development Fund that has initiated a programme called the PTDF STEM Fund.
“STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Some time ago, the PTDF, which is the creation of law with the mandate to build the capacity of Nigerians in the oil and gas industry, came up with a program called the PTDF Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Programme.
“They sought to obtain presidential approval. And today, we brought a memo to Council to be able to print 1 million science textbooks. The science courses that were identified as areas where Nigerians have deficiencies are physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and computer science.
“It is believed that to match up with the rest of the world, we need to build capacity at the secondary school level. This programme is meant to print 1 million science textbooks that will be distributed to all the local governments, 74 local government areas in the country, and to support the 104 unity schools that we have in the country, and then 122 special schools that we have in the country.
“This memo was brought before Council. It was approved by Council. Essentially, what is important is that this is a support to build capacity at the secondary school level to match up with the rest of the world in terms of technological and engineering development. We need to lay a very solid foundation.â
