BY Mayowa Tijani
Esther Okade, 10-year-old Nigerian girl, has not only been admitted to study Mathematics in an Open University in the United Kingdom, she has also topped her class in only a few weeks.
Okade, who was home-schooled by her mother, gained a C grade in GCSE’s mathematics at age six and B grade in her A-level’s pure mathematics in 2014.
Omonofe, her 37-year-old mother who is also a mathematician, explained that their living room had to be turned into a classroom for Esther and her siblings.
“Esther is doing so well. She took a class test recently and scored 100 percent [the highest score among those who wrote it]. Applying to the university was an interesting process because of her age,” she said.
“We even had to talk to the vice-chancellor. After they interviewed her, they realised that this had been her idea from the beginning. From the age of seven, Esther has wanted to go to university.”
Omonefe said Estherhad been disturbing her for three years about forging ahead with her studies, saying: “Mum, I think it is about time I started university now.”
According to Daily Mail, Esther would also have her university degree studying from home, as her parents want her to “enjoy her childhood”.
Esther’s brother, Isaiah, aged six, is already studying for his A-level exams, solving calculus and advanced algebra questions at such tender age.
“I cannot tell you how happy and proud I am as a father. The desire of every parent is to see their children exceed them, and take the family name to greater heights, and my children have done just that,” Paul, Esther’s father, said.
In 1981, Ruth Lawrence from Brighton, like Esther, passed the Oxford exam at the age of 10 and graduated in 1985 at the age of 13 with a first class degree in Mathematics.
Today Lawrence is 43 and associate professor of maths at the Einstein Institute of Mathematics, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, married with two Children.
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