The National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) has called for up-to-date education of science teachers in the country to achieve Sustainable Development Goals Four (SDG-4).
Dr Bonaventure Okere, Director, Centre for Basic Space Science and Astronomy (CBSSA), an activity centre of the agency made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Abuja, on Wednesday.
Okere said that the call became imperative in view of his observation at a recen space science outreach in Ngor-Okpala, Imo.
The outreach was in collaboration with Think Tank Group, a philanthropy group in the community, and focused on training teachers, primary and secondary school students on basic space science.
Okere said that the SDGs expected to be achieved by countries was vital to human development, adding that SDG-4 was focused on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong opportunities for all.
According to him, with our space science research, we realised that the level of basic space science is poor, while some teachers and students are unaware that information is changing globally every day.
”There are new experiences in space science and a lot of teachers are not aware and still teaching their students what was obtainable in the past.
”When we take education of the teachers seriously, it will help achieve the United States SDG, especially SDG-4, which centres on quality education.”
The director called on relevant institutions in charge of training teachers to invest in teachers’ education, adding that it was wrong transferring wrong and outdated knowledge to the students.
Okere also stressed the need to spread space science education and outreach to rural community primary and secondary schools.
According to him, it will enhance their knowledge on the sector and enable the students to choose careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and related fields.
Similarly, Mr Paul Onyebi, of the Think Tank Group, urged the participants to utilise the opportunity to choose life-changing career paths in space science.
Onyebi represented by Mrs Chidinma Okereafor, noted that from the knowledge gained, participants could explore careers such as astronomy, planetary scientists, astrobiologists, astrophysicists, astrochemists, aerospace engineers, among others.
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The outreach educated the teachers on astronomy and cosmology, the solar system, planetary scaling, physics curriculum topics such as satellites, Kepler’s law and the eclipse.
The students were taken through simplified topics, demonstrations and hands-on experiences on eclipses, telescopes, types, working principles and operation, rocketry and space travel, the moon phases and career opportunities in space science.
The hands-on activities were on the building of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) rockets and their launch, coupling of eclipse projectors, solar system modeling, planetary art contest and astronomy observation using telescopes.
Highlight of the event was a showcase of a planetarium that simulate the birth and death of stars, planetary bodies and telescopes.
Space science education materials were given to the participating schools, while some won cash prizes, telescopes, space science textbooks, souvenirs, among other items.
The outreach was titled ”From Classroom to Cosmos: Advancing Space Science Learning in Our Communities”, and had 380 persons in participation, including teachers and students from eight schools within the community.
The outreach held between November 5 and 6.
(NAN)
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