Teacher accuse parents for low interest of girls in sciences

A Science teacher with Golden Stars Secondary School, Karu, Fatimat Sule, has blamed some parents for the low participation of girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Sule made this known in an interview with newsmen on Monday in Abuja.

The teacher said it was not surprising to find a lot of girls studying arts and humanities because they had not been encouraged by their parents to study sciences.

She said that parents do not help their daughter’s build confidence in themselves because from childhood they had been conditioned to believe that practical activities were not for girls.

“ You can see it clearly when parents are getting toys for their children, they get cars, bicycle etc for boys and get mostly dolls for the girls.

“ Some young girls in junior secondary school sometimes fail mathematics woefully and you find that some of their parents will encourage them to focus on other subjects and excel in them thereby making them choose other fields such as law and humanities over science and technology.

“ Parents ought to encourage their female children who demonstrate a passion for science and technology instead of giving them other career options,’’ she said.

She also attributed the reason to less women scientists and engineers due to some old stereotypes and beliefs by some parents.

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“ In the past, some of our parents believe that as girls or would-be mothers, we will be more stable to raise a family and only do well in arts.

“ I was also made to believe that as a woman, it is better for me to take my art and finance courses seriously because I have safer options for future employment.

“While growing up, I only heard and read of male scientists and I believe even as today that there are very few female role models in sciences, research and technology.

“Everyday while growing up, we hear of scientists as `he’ and nurses, accountants, teachers etc as `she’ and this kind of shaped our thinking and career paths as we grew into adults,’’ she said.

In order to change the mindset of some parents, I also believe the secondary school officials had a role to play by organising exhibitions for parents.

“ Parents should not just be invited for inter-house sports, PTA meetings etc, science exhibitions should also be organised and parents should also be invited and encouraged to be involved,’’ Sule said.

She said that the government had a lot to do to improve the science and technology climate in Nigeria by investing more money in the sector.

“Government has to make the sector more lucrative and attractive to woo investors and employers.

“ The few female scientists in the academics, corporate organisations, etc, should be celebrated for the younger girls to have role models to look up to,’’ she said.