EditorWOMEN in Aerospace Nigeria (WIAN), have advocated for the injection of space education into schools’ curriculum to raise awareness on space science and technology in the country.
The group made the call on Friday in Abuja when they paid a courtesy visit to Dr Halilu Shaba, the Director-General of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA).
The visit was to intimate Shaba of the activities of WIAN, join the rest of the women globally to mark World Space Week and congratulate him on his recent appointment as the D-G of the agency.
World Space Week, celebrated every Oct. 4 to 10, was established by the resolution of the UN General Assembly in December 1999.
The week is set aside to celebrate the contributions of space science and technology to the development of human conditions and for sustainable development.
World Space Week for the year is with the theme “Women in Space”.
Speaking on the curriculum, Mrs Chidimma Iroka, Secretary of WIAN, said they had been engaging in visiting schools to educate the girl-child on the importance of space to human lives.
Iroka said the curriculum was designed to expose the girl-child to activities in space, where they would get hands-on practicals on flying objects into the air, develop space codes.
“We just developed the curriculum, though it has not been accepted by the education system in Nigeria we are already using it because the curriculum has to do with astronomy.
“We don’t have astronomy in schools, now we have it in the curriculum, so people need to know what stars, the moon is for in space education and we educate them to know the weather forecast.
“The curriculum we developed is not only for secondary schools, but we also started from primary, the initiative is `Catch them young, so we start from primary schools.
“We bring them to the space agency, educate them on what space is like, take them on a tour and allow them to do it themselves.
“In the curriculum we have now, girls between the ages of 6 and 8 do it themselves. They can cut papers to make some objects, those between 12 to 16 can write codes that can be used to fly objects in space,’’ she said.
She acknowledged that coding is an area girl got scared of getting into, but with the curriculum, it had been simplified, hence they could read and write codes for use in space.
The secretary added that they were collaborating with the UN Office for Outer Space, Space for Women organisation and women in sister agencies connected to space activities to boost their presence and impact in the country.
Mrs Florence Ibrahim, Nodal Coordinator, Nigeria Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT), said the organisation is passionate about the girl-child’s exposure to space science and technology.
“We are working to ensure that the girl-child picks interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) for her to have a career path in space.
Dr Rakiya Babamaaji, Assistant Director, Space Application, NASRDA, said WIAN hopes to get the first Nigerian woman into space, adding that they have a roadmap that involved going to space.
Mrs Kaneng Dagyeng, Media Coordinator for WIAN, said that the group would be engaging the soon to be launched Space TV to propagate their activities for more awareness.
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