Renowned jurist, political economist, and public intellectual, Prof. Anthony Kila, has faulted the recent policy by the Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Olatunji to remove Mathematics as a compulsory subject for Arts students seeking admission into tertiary institutions on the country.
He described the policy as a “miscalculation with grave national consequences,”
To.indicate his disapproval of the policy, Kila, today Thursday announced the launch of a civic advocacy initiative called #LetOurChildrenCount, aimed at urging the Ministry of Education to reverse what he described as “an educational error that subtracts from the nation’s intellectual strength.”
Speaking at a virtual briefing hosted by the Commonwealth Institute of Advanced and Professional Studies (CIAPS), Kila delivered a speech titled, “We Must Not Subtract Sense From Schooling,”
Kila in the speech in which argued that Mathematics is not merely a subject but “a discipline of the mind essential to reasoning, structure, and fairness in thought.”
The Don explained that “To say that Arts students no longer need Mathematics is to say that poets should not count and philosophers should not reason,” he stated.
“A society that abolishes Mathematics is not promoting inclusion. it is endorsing confusion. We must not subtract sense from schooling,”he warned.
Kila urged the Minister of Education to “reform, not remove” Mathematics from the national admission framework, proposing instead a “Mathematics for the Humanities” curriculum that would teach logic, statistics, and reasoning relevant to the arts and social sciences.
The #LetOurChildrenCount campaign, according to Kila, will include Public petitions to the National Council on Education, the Federal Ministry of Education, Parliamentarians and the Council of State, Stakeholder dialogues involving teachers, parents, and students, and a youth-led digital campaign across social media platforms to promote numeracy and logic as essential life skills.
He added that partners and supporters of the #LetOurChildrenCount campaign would also host an Education Roundtable to present evidence-based arguments against the policy, drawing participation from educators, researchers, and civic leaders across Nigeria and the diaspora.
Recall that the Education Minister on Tuesday announced that Mathematics will no longer be a compulsory subject for prospective university students in the Arts, sparking widespread debate among educators and parents.
While some hailed the decision as a relief for students who struggle with the subject, others — including university lecturers, economists, and education reform advocates warned that it could weaken critical thinking and reduce employability.
Kila, who has written extensively on education policy and public reasoning, joins a growing list of critics urging a rethink.
“Mathematics is the grammar of reason,” he said.
“Even poets count syllables. Even musicians calculate rhythm. Let us not produce a generation that cannot count what counts.”
The #LetOurChildrenCount,” Kila explained is aimed at raising public awareness, gather expert recommendations, and engage policymakers to ensure that all Nigerian students regardless of discipline receive a strong foundation in analytical and quantitative reasoning.
According to him, the campaign, “is not about preserving Mathematics as a punishment, but as a path to understanding for the child, the citizen, and the country.”
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