(CNN)— At first glance Esther Okade seems like a
normal 10-year-old. She loves dressing up as
Elsa from "Frozen," playing with Barbie dolls and
going to the park or shopping.
But what makes the British-Nigerian youngster
stand out is the fact that she's also a university
undergraduate.
Esther, from Walsall, an industrial town in the
UK's West Midlands region, is one of the
country's youngest college freshmen.
The talented 10-year-old enrolled at the Open
University, a UK-based distance learning college,
in January and is already top of the class, having
recently scored 100% in a recent exam.
"It's so interesting. It has the type of maths I
love. It's real maths -- theories, complex
numbers, all that type of stuff," she giggles. "It
was super easy. My mum taught me in a nice
way."
She adds: "I want to (finish the course) in two
years. Then I'm going to do my PhD in financial
maths when I'm 13. I want to have my own
bank by the time I'm 15 because I like numbers
and I like people and banking is a great way to
help people."
And in case people think her parents have
pushed her into starting university early, Esther
emphatically disagrees.
"I actually wanted to start when I was seven.
But my mum was like, "you're too young, calm
down." After three years of begging, mother Efe
finally agreed to explore the idea.
A marvelous mathematical mind
Esther has always jumped ahead of her peers.
She sat her first Math GSCE exam, a British high
school qualification, at Ounsdale High School in
Wolverhampton at just six, where she received a
C-grade. A year later, she outdid herself and got
the A-grade she wanted. Then last year she
scored a B-grade when she sat the Math A-level
exam.
Esther's mother noticed her daughter's flair for
figures shortly after she began homeschooling
her at the age of three. Initially, Esther's parents
had enrolled her in a private school but after a
few short weeks, the pair began noticing
changes in the usually-vibrant youngster.
Efe says: "One day we were coming back home
and she burst out in tears and she said 'I don't
ever want to go back to that school -- they
don't even let me talk!'
"In the UK, you don't have to start school until
you are five. Education is not compulsory until
that age so I thought OK, we'll be doing little
things at home until then. Maybe by the time
she's five she will change her mind."
Efe started by teaching basic number skills but
Esther was miles ahead. By four, her natural
aptitude for maths had seen the eager student
move on to algebra and quadratic equations.
And Esther isn't the only maths prodigy in the
family. Her younger brother Isaiah, 6, will soon
be sitting his first A-level exam in June.
A philanthropic family
Not content with breaking barriers to attend
college at just 10 years old, Esther is also writing
a series of math workbooks for children called
"Yummy Yummy Algebra."
"It starts at a beginner level -- that's volume
one. But then there will be volume two, and
volume three, and then volume four. But I've only
written the first one.
"As long as you can add or subtract, you'll be
able to do it. I want to show other children they
are special," she says.
Meanwhile, Esther's parents are also trying to
trail blaze their own educational journey back in
Nigeria.
The couple have set up a foundation and are in
the process of building a nursery and primary
school in Nigeria's Delta region (where the
family are from). Named "Shakespeare's
Academy," they hope to open the school's doors
in September.
The proposed curriculum will have all the usual
subjects such as English, languages, math and
science, as well as more unconventional
additions including morality and ethics, public
speaking, entrepreneurship and etiquette. The
couple say they want to emulate the teaching
methods that worked for their children rather
than focus on one way of learning.
"Some children learn very well with kinesthetics
where they learn with their hands -- when they
draw they remember things. Some children have
extremely creative imaginations. Instead of trying
to make children learn one way, you teach them
based on their learning style," explains Efe.
The educational facility will have a capacity of
2,000 to 2,500 students with up to 30% of
students being local children offered scholarships
to attend.
Efe says: "On one hand, billions of dollars worth
of crude oil is pumped out from that region on a
monthly basis and yet the poverty rate of the
indigenous community is astronomical."
While Paul adds: "(The region has) poor quality
of nursery and primary education. So by the time
the children get secondary education they
haven't got a clue. They haven't developed their
core skills.
"The school is designed to give children an aim
so they can study for something, not just for the
sake of acquiring certifications. There is an end
goal."

Source: www.edition.cnn.com/2015/03/09/africa/esther-okade-maths-genius/index.html

Na lie picture

This is wonderful... We need more of this!!!

cc Lalasticlala Ishilove
Let's celebrate this girl!

Hmmm

That awkward moment when you spell a word so wrong that even auto-correct is like 'I got nothing, man.'

hope the boy won't be in this case.