The Bayelsa government says it will prioritise teaching and learning Ijaw, French and Chinese in public schools.

Deputy Governor Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo disclosed this when the national and state chapters of the Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN) paid him a courtesy visit in Yenagoa.

Mr Ewhrudjakpo explained that the emphasis on the above-listed languages, in addition to the core science subjects, was to equip the children to take full advantage of career opportunities offered by those subjects in the future.

He noted that the growing economic influence of China in global affairs today justifies the inclusion of the Chinese language as a subject of interest in the school curriculum.

The deputy governor commended the group for sharing and promoting programmes to uplift Bayelsa.

“I am happy that the programme you are introducing is in tandem with the thinking of the state government. For us, we have made it compulsory, and we are pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) because we believe that with that, the negative impression of Bayelsa state will change sooner or later.

“We are recruiting more teachers in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, agriculture science and computer science. The other subjects we are placing priority on are Chinese, French and Ijaw languages,’’ he said.

Mr Ewhrudjakpo urged APWEN members to make teamwork their watchword to achieve their objectives.

He appealed to the body to include male students in their programmes for gender balancing.

The deputy governor explained that an engineering career required much hard work to be awarded a fellowship, urging them to partner with other male-dominated professions to gain more visibility.

He advised them to do more to encourage girls at secondary schools to take up engineering as a course of study and profession.

Mr Ewhrudjakpo appreciated APWEN for bestowing awards on him in recognition of his contributions to the growth and development of the engineering profession in the state and the country.

In separate remarks, APWEN chair Diepreye Owana-Omubo and vice-chair Ann Jonathan-Obuebitei said the association was doing everything to encourage the girl-child to take up engineering at the basic education level.

They commended the state government for establishing more technical colleges and recruiting science and mathematics teachers to promote STEM education in Bayelsa.

(NAN)