In this edition of top class we focus our attention on the summer mathematical programme that was attended by some thirty volunteers from ten schools in region one.

The programme was jointly organized by Coca-cola, DHL and the Youth Care Foundation (YCF); it all started with a march pass of the participating students from the YCF building in Tallinding to the Gambega Company Office where participants settled down for a day-long conference on the theme, ‘discovery …think deeply of little things…’ and is aimed at introducing participants to understanding five basic thematic areas in the subject area notably, introducing students to research work, promote self-discovery and students’-view concept on mathematics syllabus, build self-confidence, encouraging enthusiasm for mathematics and increasing awareness of career in the mathematics and sciences.

The programme also seeks to connect students into a supporting network of other students’ thereby improving their performance in public examinations, promote a positive self-concept and work ethic that fosters responsibility global citizenship and to complement the efforts of the government of The Gambia in its Science and Mathematics promotion drives.

The conduct of these three institutions simply manifests their commitment to advance the study of Mathematics and Science among the school going youths so as to develop the human resource base of the country, because the subjects under discussion are found in all aspects of human life. Its traces are found at birth though our existence until the great call. In fact, currently, the wave of the interest in Mathematics is rowing over the atmosphere.

Every academic oriented person is fully aware that mathematics is the study of quantity, structure, space, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns, formulate new conjectures, and establish truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axions and definitions. Mathematicians like Benjamin Peirce called mathematics “the science that draws necessary conclusions” Albert Einstein, on the other hands, stated that “as far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.

Practical mathematics has been a human activity for as far back as written records exists. Rigorous arguments first appeared in Creek mathematics, most notably in Euclid’s Elements. Mathematics continued to develop, for example in China in 300 BC, in India in AD 100, and in the Muslim World in AD 800, until the Renaissance, when mathematical innovation interacting with new scientific discoveries led to a rapid increase in the rate of mathematical discovery that continues to the present day.

Besides, mathematics is used throughout the world as an essential tool in many fields, including natural science, engineering, medicine, and the social sciences. Applied mathematics, the branch of mathematics concerned with application of mathematical knowledge to other fields, inspires and makes use of new mathematical discoveries and sometimes leads to the development of entirely new mathematical disciplines, such as statistics and game theory. Mathematicians also engage in mathematics for it own sake, without having any applicatijon in mind, although practical applications for what began as pure mathematics are often discovered.

The move by the three institutions to conduct a summer mathematics program is geared towards ensuring that the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education continues to perform the leadership role it is currently undertaking and as well to provide education that is of very high quality in order to churn out graduates at the basic and secondary levels of education who will become very strong members of society.

The commitment of the Coca-Cola and DHL in collaboration with the Youth Care Foundation, The Gambia promises to bring the strength and ability to Mathematics in the society.