The Chief Executive Officer of Supreme Education Foundation (SEF) Schools, Magodo, Olubukola Adewuyi, speak with Adeola Ogunlade on the challenges of education in Nigeria and what can be
done to reposition it for better leadership.
Could you please give a profile of yourself?
I am Olubukola Adewuyi, the Chief Executive Officer of Supreme Education Foundation. I am a trained and qualified Educator and Administrator. I hold a Barrister at law degree and bagged a Master’s in Education from Middlesex University England. Over the last decade, I have been actively involved in the Education industry in England and in Nigeria with hands-on experience in the classroom, administration and leadership. I began my work life with the foremost Adepetu, Caxton Martins & Agbor Firm. My desire to improve children’s learning and the school system led to my transition into the education sector. As an Educator, I have worked in various capacities as a classroom teacher, a year group leader, a key stage coordinator and a sectional head. In my administrative capacity, I have served as the deputy and Head of International Schools. During my years as Head of School, I discovered many budding leaders and empowered them with competence and character to become extraordinary breeds. I currently serve as the Chief Executive Officer of Supreme Education Foundation (SEF).At SEF, we develop the Nigerian child into a global citizen with national interest at heart. In my capacity as the CEO of SEF, I. am focused on transforming education through my engagement and involvement in public and private education. My rare blend of legal, administrative and education expertise positions me as a worthy model for the New Nigerian Education System. These unique qualities have granted me the opportunity to pace the educational terrain with unlimited prowess for didactic progress
What is so unique about SEF?
At the establishment of Supreme Educational foundation school in 1991, the founder, Mrs. Adenike Adamolekun, who worked at the West African Examination Council (WAEC) had a vision to attain the highest standards of academic excellence and to turn children who go through her school into global citizens and role models. We have schools we mentor and train their teachers. We also visit motherless babies’ homes. People thought she knows the questions before hand she will give it to the students before the examination. After much research, people realised it was just her passion to see children achieve excellence, that has made them attain good results. This is why we have built a culture of excellence and the school motto today is the tradition of excellence and care.
Education over the years has moved from analogue to digital age and that has thrown up new conversation about what kind of education are we giving to our children. Can you analyse the level of education available to today’s children?
Well, I trained in the United Kingdom as an educationist and when I look at the Nigeria educational system, I discovered that our system is riddled with untapped potentials. What we need to do is to adapt a wholistic practical and workable system that will meet our needs as individuals and as a nation. Whatever we adopt must be feasible. If we decide to blend or adopt the British and/or American curriculum, we must do that with a sense of ingenuity to the point that the curriculum provides an all-encompassing platform for learning and character modification. Whichever one that is chosen must be such that it meets both local and international needs.
So, what are our problems in Nigeria and what curriculum best work?
The Finnish education curriculum. The fantastic thing about their curriculum is that it is designed for them. They looked at their system and thought of their problems and resolved on what should to go into their curriculum for sustainable growth and development. We need to take a cue from them. We need leaders who will come together and look at the curriculum and tailor it to the needs of Nigerians. It is not about bringing every other curriculum, what do we need? It is like going back to your home and assessing what you need in the house. If other houses are enjoying power, we may need something else in our home. We don’t have to do what our neighbors are doing hook, line and sinker. We need a curriculum that is suitable to our needs. Again, the question is what do we need?
There seems to be a logjam as students have to read to pass WAEC and schools wanting to adopt best curriculum from the western world. How do we balance that seemingly logjam in our educational system?
For us at SEF, we adopted the British method of teaching the Nigeria curriculum. Like you said that the
students need to pass WAEC, but we find out when we use the (British) approach in teaching, children achieve better because it encourages a lot of reasoning. So, if we see something good that the British are doing that is applicable without necessarily throwing away the baby and the water away, we adopt. In fact, we look at the curriculum. For instance in Mathematics, we brought out the British curriculum and we look at the gaps and merged to ensure our children are not missing out. As much as they have to pass their examination, they are also exposed to other learning areas that are not necessarily embedded in the curriculum, so they are not illiterate literates, a situation where they pass their examination but do not know what is going on in the world. We just had a concert of the all-time classic Sounds of Music. This does not have anything to do with passing WAEC or Common Entrance. We are raising well-rounded children. Late Chief Obafemi Awolowo defined in Education as the development of the mind; it is not about just passing exams. Some children pass but they are not really educated, so they have all the As but are not educated, nor employable. They have no skills but they pass exams and that is one thing to be really worried about. This is why at SEF, we ensure our pupils gain enough work experience before going to the university.
How can we marry education and leadership? We complain of failure of today’s leaders in our country. Is it the problem with the education system or is it just about the system?
I think that with regards to the system, we got it wrong. Like I said initially, we are neither here nor there
with the weight of our society. So, as school leaders, we need to come together to identify and think of ways to raise up leaders that are empathetic, selfless and care for others. These are one of the many reasons we changed our slogan in SEF to the tradition of care and excellence. One of the reasons we are looking at care is because it is one of the humane values that is lacking in our society. We have leaders who don’t care about the society. We are training children who don’t care about the society, about the next person to them. They don’t care about the environment. So, the children walk past and see pieces of papers on the floor, they don’t care about how they talk to the teachers, treat the cleaners, they just don’t care and it’s because we have a tradition of not showing care. Our leaders do not care about the poor and the needy. We recently took our children to visit an orphanage home and they were crying and were really sad because they have not seen that part of the world before. We need to be intentional and deliberate about teaching our children to care about the society. It is about marrying education and societal values that will help build our children to become credible leaders who care. One of the things many schools have done is to raise transactional leaders. We have adopted some of the systems in the UK without bothering to find out the reasons those systems have been established in the first place. A lot of schools have a lot of things to do with reward systems. When you do this and that, you get a sticker. Thus, nobody is doing the right thing because it is right to do good. We do it because of what is in it for us. What kind of leaders do we have now? Please note that am not discrediting a good reward system, am asking that it be looked at thoroughly! If the government wants to build a bridge, maybe we want a fourth Mainland Bridge, the bridge is not built because it will serve the populace but for selfish interest of leaders who would have their personal stakes buried in the transaction. We have transactional leaders!
Sometimes, we need to just tell the children well done for being nice, well done for doing good, well done for taking care of the poor because it is right to do so and this will propel the children to enjoy doing what is good and right. Going to the orphanage is not for taking personal gains, nor self-gratification but students feel good because they made someone smile. We tagged one of our programmes “Give a Smile”. The students reward was the experience gained from learning to exhibit care and love. We must be deliberate in identifying the loops in the society and then closing those gaps in school so by the time students come out of school, they become good leaders. We need more children who care for the society. It is one of the reasons I encourage the use of language because language does one thing- it bonds and helps in connecting people. If you are outside Lagos or your state of abode and you meet someone who speaks your language, you easily connect as brothers and sisters. It gives a sense of bonding.
Are you encouraging speaking of vernacular in schools?
No, I don’t encourage it but we encourage parents to speak their indigenous language to their children. We don’t have to lose the rich culture of our language. You can be rich both ways. You can speak your indigenous language fluently as well as English.
Should there be a new conversation around speaking vernacular in schools?
Yes, what is vernacular? Who calls it vernacular? What is the definition of vernacular? The white men came and called it vernacular because it is not their language. It is our language and part of our identity. I believe also when Fashola started “Eko Onibaje, o bajeti!”, it brought about a bond and sense of belonging to all Lagosians. That was the first time we had a sense of identity and bonding. In Finland, their language is so important and I had this argument with some of my “bosses” in the profession and they said it is not possible in Nigeria. How other countries have been able to do this successfully, is something we should understudy. We are English- speaking and it’s fantastic. The culture and our identity are important, so we don’t forget where we are coming from and I think that helps us build where the country is going to. In Finland, you have to be able to speak and write their languages fluently before you can become a teacher. You must be able to write Finnish up to a Master level before you can become a teacher. Though, they have diverse languages like we do but there are three main languages spoken in Finland.
Is 6-3-3 4, the best option for us?
Yes, it is still the best option for Nigeria. The main thing about the 6-3-3-4 or whether it is 6-5-4 is that the
children must be mature and be up to 17 years before they go into the university. That is what it is designed for. In England, it is 6-5-2-3 but when summed up, it’s the same thing even for Canada and the United State of America. There is nothing wrong with the 6-3-3-4 it is about the contents in the 6-3-3-4
model. What are we dishing out to the children? What can children do in the first six years? Really, if we are breaking the first three years of their secondary school properly, by the time the children are going into the first year of the next three, which is the Senior. Secondary, they must be clear about what they are going into. In Finland, they have the same model like ours. The first three is the middle school and by the time students are going to the high school which is the senior secondary school, the children are asked whether they want to continue in the academics or vocational. Whichever they are going into can be developed up to the PHD level. We really need something like that because we discovered that everybody wants to go into the academics even when they are not strong in the academics, and don’t have what to sustain them there. If a child wants to become a mechanic, do we have any academic provision for that? The child may totally fail if he/she goes out there and learns in a shoddy way. We don’t have any platform for these children. if the child wants to become a mechanic, the child may find that difficult because we don’t have a platform for that, except the child goes into a roadside workshop. For children who would to go into vocational studies after year nine, where do we take them to? We don’t have a system that has embraced it so well that parents can feel comfortable taking their children there. Places, where children can learn all forms of Vocational programmes and earn degrees up to PHD level that will eventually improve the quality of things done in the country, should be made available.
As we speak, in the next few years, over 800 jobs will be lost due to the increasing use of robotics. How do we train children to meet up with the demands of work in the future?
One of the things we realise today is that robots have taken over a lot of things. So, we need people who show empathy, emotional intelligence, collaboration, creativity, communication, curiosity and cooperation. We are continuously developing our students emotional intelligence, this is an essential skill for the twenty-first century. We have a trade fair coming up in a few days which is to develop children’s entrepreneurial and employment skills too. It is obvious the professions are changing; it is no longer doctors, and lawyers. Things have changed. What the children really need today is that ability to be creative, how well they can work with other people. This is important because when robots take over a lot of things, we are still going to need people because robots don’t have empathy nor emotional intelligence. We have two of our pupils going to Dubai to represent Nigeria in coding and STEMs competition.
Are you in support of STEM and how far-reaching do you want the programme to go?
I think it is an interesting one. We need more policies tailored to our needs. I am not against it. It is fantastic. This is the time for the children to learn and it is a good policy. How can school owners help raise a new generation of quality leaders who will go out there and fight against corruption and create a society safe for living? I think we need school owners to be intentional, deliberate in developing the moral infrastructure so that the students are robust in their morals. They will have a bigger outlook to life. Recently, I watched a video of a child who was asked what she wanted to become and she said that she wanted to be a local government chairman. I was surprised. He was asked further ‘what do you want to be doing?’ He said that I want to be buying cars. This is a strong evidence of the moral decadence in the society, and how bad we have fallen from expectation. For us as SEF, we identify care and discipline as one of the major grains to building a better society. As much as the schools have a lot to do, families as well have a lot to do. The children have to be more disciplined so they can become disciplined adults; adults who understand delayed gratification. Even the adults should have a state of mind that things need to change because if we do not see anything wrong in the system, there is nothing we can correct. If we permit it, we will not see the need to change.
