In a bid to sharpen calculation skills and be a problem solver in the society, over thirty thousand JSS 3 students in Lagos Public Schools participated in this year’s Darsel app mathematics competition using technology.
The Lagos students who used the Darsel app which is a unique AI feature that creates solutions for both teachers and students in mathematics, solved ten million questions within the just concluded 2024/2025 academic session.
At a reward ceremony for the outstanding students and schools at Alausa, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Mrs. Abisola Dokunmu-Adegbite, lauded the initiative and boasted that Lagos students are more of a genius than champions in line with global best practices.
The Permanent Secretary hinted that all students from JSS 1 to JSS 3 in all public schools will participate in next session’s competition, with a call on teachers to also leverage technology for more training for self development.
“The essence of the event was to add more values to the teaching and learning, specifically on subjects like Mathematics. I enjoin the students and teachers to leverage the Artificial intelligence platforms to hone their skills said the world has provided better platforms through science and technology to achieve future goals and that Lagos is happy to be partnering with such initiatives that will further boost learning and teaching process.”
The implementation partner to Darsel in Nigeria, Mrs Wunmi Tolu-Alalade, said the objective was to improve learning outcomes in students and encourage teachers in using technology to teach for easier assimilation by students, with a call on parents to allow their children use their phones for only fifteen minutes daily to solve mathematics questions on the app to hone their skills.
“This is the state award ceremony to appreciate and recognise the students that have utilised the Darsel learning platform and the students were chosen because they answered thousands of mathematics questions correctly.
“As we all know, with the development in technology now, particularly the artificial intelligence usage, we need something that students can practice with, Mathematics being a peculiar subject, we have interests of students, so we look at a way that we can support them so that they can continue to practice and the teachers get feedback every time at their fingertips to observe their weak points and know where they can come in to help the students.
“We intend to continue to support this initiative, and ensure continuous upgrading of the curriculum and before the beginning of the next academic session the App will incorporate all the Junior categories in Lagos State from JSS1 to JSS3.”
One of the best students from Ojodu Junior Grammar School, Miss Glory Olabiyi, who solved fifty five thousand questions, received an award and cash price for her school, as she appreciated her mother and teacher for the motivation to participate in the competition in which she came second best overall student.
“I want to thank my mother and teacher for helping me have interest in mathematics because I don’t like the subject at all. But when I saw the competition they encourage me to participate and my mother always give me her phone every day for fifteen minutes and that motivated me to do the questions, while my teacher pushed me to solve more questions every day and I solved fifty five thousand questions in all.”
The best overall School award goes to Ojodu Junior Grammar School in Education District 6, while Dr Lucas Memorial Junior High school and Ishasi Junior Grammar School both in Education District 5 came second and third respectively.
Reporting by Yemisi Dada