The National Space Research and Development Agency has called for the up-to-date education of science teachers in the country to achieve SDG-4.
Bonaventure Okere, director of the Centre for Basic Space Science and Astronomy, an activity centre of the agency, made the call in an interview in Abuja on Wednesday.
Mr Okere said that the call became imperative in view of his observation at a recent space science outreach in Ngor-Okpala, Imo.
The outreach was conducted in collaboration with the Think Tank Group, a local philanthropy organisation, and focused on training teachers and primary and secondary school students in basic space science.
Mr Okere said that the SDGs expected to be achieved by countries were 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, through our space science research, we realised that the level of basic space science knowledge is poor, while some teachers and students are unaware that information is constantly changing globally.
”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 the education of the teachers seriously, it will help achieve the United States SDG, especially SDG-4, which centres on quality education,” Mr Okereke explained.
The director called on relevant institutions in charge of teacher training to invest in teachers’ education, adding that it was wrong to transfer outdated knowledge to students.
Mr 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 in the sector and enable students to choose careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, as well as related fields.
Similarly, Paul Onyebi, of the Think Tank Group, urged the participants to utilise the opportunity to choose life-changing career paths in space science.
Mr. Onyebi noted that, based on the knowledge gained, participants could explore careers such as astronomy, planetary science, astrobiology, astrophysics, astrochemistry, and aerospace engineering, among others.
The outreach educated teachers on astronomy and cosmology, the solar system, planetary scaling, and physics curriculum topics such as satellites, Kepler’s laws, 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 included building do-it-yourself rockets and their launch, coupling eclipse projectors, solar system modeling, a planetary art contest, and astronomy observation using telescopes.
(NAN)
