The Nation Newspaper

Tag: school

  • School owners pray for 2015

    Some private school owners spent last Saturday praying for the progress of the education sector at a prayer summit organised by the Standard Mandate International (SMI) in Lagos.

    The seventh edition of the summit, which held at the Chapel of Christ the Light Alausa, Ikeja, featured prayer sessions for the country, parents, school proprietors, teachers and pupils as well as words of exhortation.

    The prayers were led by the Proprietress of MD School, Mrs Juliet Adedugbe and the proprietress of Dansol Schools, Mrs Adun Akinyemiju,  who also delivered the sermon.

    In her exhortation, Mrs Akinyemiju urged school owners to regard their vocation as a ministry to prepare young people to be God’s heritage.

    She said if ISIS could indoctrinate children as young as four to kill, young pupils can be influenced positively for God.

    “These children are not too young.  If ISIS can train four-year olds, then we can also train our own children to do good and serve God.  This is a ministry.  Pastors are not full-time ministers; we are the ones that are full-time ministers because we spend a lot of time with these children.  We need to take this as a calling,” she said.

    Senior Boarding House Mistress of The Apostolic Secondary School, Anthony, Mrs Veronica Akhaine, said she it was the third time she was attending the summit, which she described as useful in providing participants with new ideas on how to run their schools.

    “When we come here, we learn a lot.  They even invited officials from the Ministry of Education to discuss with us.  It shows we are all working together to fulfil a purpose,” she said.

    Another participant, Mrs Jane Olaolu, a first-time attendee, said she was glad to have been part of the prayer summit.

    On his part, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SMI, Pastor Nelson Ayodele said the aim of the summit was to provide a prayer cover for the New Year for school owners to operate in a favourable environment.

    He said private school owners deserve government support because they are rendering a social service.

    “There are some private schools set up in some communities that government cannot reach and they are there to provide education for the children, but because there is no government aid or fund for such projects they keep struggling with the little school fees that they collect,” he said.

     

  • School elects prefects

    Pupils of Lilyvale Nursery and Primary School, Pipeline, Akute-Ishashi Road, Akute, Ogun State have elected new prefects for this academic session.

    The exercise saw the children take turns, class after class, to cast their vote in an exercise that was monitored and supervised by the school management and some of the parents.

    At the end, Faruq Ayantola emerged the new Head boy with 111 votes beating David Oboh who got 99 votes.  David is the Assistant Head boy. Also, Favour Ogbekhilu won the post of Head girl with 149 votes beating Olatunde Oreoluwa (now the assistant Head girl), who got 88 votes.

    The Head Teacher, Titilayo Orisabinone, said the objective of the exercise was to educate the pupils about leadership and politics.

    “We want them to know about leadership and secondly, we want them to know that they can actually practise politics without bitterness and they should start from the elementary school.

    “Those that are ruling us today, if they had started the way these ones have started now, the kind of challenge we are having in politics we will not have it,” she said.

    She disclosed that though hitch-free, the exercise was not devoid of surprise as pre-election favourite for the head boy position, David, lost to Ayantola.

    Ayantola said: “I just thank God. And I still feel bad for my assistant too because it is not easy to (run for an election) and lose it.”

    He promised to work with all to move the school forward.

    Favour thanked God for her election.  She said she would help to advance the school’s academic and moral standard.

    David and Oreoluwa also pledged their support for their superior prefects.

    The other prefects are Omitola Zainab (Library Prefect), Adeoye Kehinde (assistant Library Prefect), Adeoye Taiwo (Chapel Prefect), Talabi Sogoyitan (Games Prefect), Taiwo Demilade (Social Prefect), Odunsola Moyinoluwa (Time Keeper), Tomoloju Fiyinfoluwa (Welfare Prefect), Olaleye Toluwalase  (Music Prefect),Best Aima (Health Prefect), Odukoya Israel (Class Governor), Olakunle Tolani (assistant Music Prefect).

     

  • Fire razes shops, school in Ondo

    Fire razes shops, school in Ondo

    Another fire incident occurred in Odosida area of Ondo town in the early hours of Tuesday, throwing the community into pandemonium as some shops and a private secondary school were razed down.

    The inferno which reportedly started at about 6:00am caused destroyed personal property and vital documents owned by the affected school.
    However, no life was lost in the incident.

    The cause of the inferno has not been ascertained at the time of this report, but speculations were riffed that it occurred shortly after some armed young boys driving in an unmarked Toyota Camry stormed the area at about 5: 00am with guns and other dangerous weapons before setting the place ablaze.

    The Nation gathered that the hoodlums had initially blocked the major road in the street, before shooting sporadically and set the shops ablaze.

    Eyewitnesses said the hoodlums who were reportedly led by a boy, whose identity was yet to be ascertained, had engaged in an argument with his brother whose name was given as Rotimi, over the property of their late father.

    The eyewitnesses said the hoodlums had earlier invaded a beer palour in the area and brought out drinks before setting the shops ablaze.

  • School welcomes ‘Xmas

    The Mind Builders School family last week celebrated Christmas with Carol and Concert, with both holding on Wednesday and Friday at the Isheri annexe of the school.

    Pupils from the school’s Omole, Central Business District, and Isheri campuses presented plays, carols and other songs, instrumentals, and ballet dance to the delight of parents and guests. They all centered on the theme: Prince of Peace, .

    The various ballet presentations were the favourite of most parents.  Participants looked angelic in their pink frocks and ballet shoes while they danced gaily to music that suited the occasion.

    The presentations were interspersed with hymns and nine lessons drawn from the Holy Bible.  Rev Ibikunle Fatuyi of the All Saints Anglican Church, Ikosi, Ketu, who spoke on The Purpose of Christmas, told the audience that despite the country’s problems, Jesus, as the Prince of Peace, would make a difference in the lives of those who embrace him.

    “No matter how difficult things are, you will be visited by the Prince of Peace if you want peace in your family, please embrace Jesus.  I have tasted life and I have tasted Christ and I know the difference,” he said.

    The school’s Head Teacher, Mr Ezekiel Awe, said the theme was selected because Jesus represents peace.

    “We looked at what is happening in the nation right now, there is insecurity everywhere, crisis in the northeast, which is creeping into other parts of the country.  We need peace in the country, in our various homes and we know Jesus stands for peace.  Let his peace reign in our various institutions, homes, schools and everywhere.  If we can allow peace to reign, then everything would be normalised,” he said.

    The school’s Parents/Teachers’ Association Vice- Chairman, Mrs Mariam Ayoade, said there was a lot for parents thank God for this year.

    “Understanding the kind of challenges that we have been through this year, I will say this is a period to be thankful .  We should be thankful for grace, we should be thankful for life – with all the bombings, Ebola, the uncertainties that have happened this year – the grace to be here and to be well and happy, and hope to look forward to what life is going to give us, I think we should be thankful,” she said.

    The Education Director, Mrs Bolajoko Falore, said God saw the school through the year despite all the challenges.

    “Personally I still have to give thanks to God; if not for anything, for the gift of life.  The situation in the country might not be so favourable, but we have to thank God.  God has been so faithful, he met all our needs,” she said.

     

  • School writes off debtors’ fees

    As part of identifying with the spirit of Christmas, five pupils of Christ LifeForte School, Orisumbare, Lagos had their outstanding tuition fees written off by the school management.

    Parents of the five defaulting pupils who had attended the school’s Christmas party on Friday last week, and had thereafter gone to pick up their reports card were disappointed as the pupils’ respective teachers denied them.

    Instead, they were referred to the head teacher Mr John Avornyo who, having listened to their plea, decided to wave off the school fees and directed that affected pupils report cards be handed to the parents with immediate effect. The gesture, which was applauded by the now happy parents, Avornyo explained, was to demonstrate love synonymous with the yuletide season.

    According to Avornyo, the management of the school has a culture of carrying parents with financial challenges in the school along.

    He said: “The decision of the management is to carry parents who can’t afford to pay fees along. It’s not every day; and all the time that someone is expected of what you are supposed to be, there are times you go down and there are times you go up”.

    Avornyo added that the school used the party to express gratitude not only shown to pupils and parents, but the society at large.

    Describing Christmas, he said “We see Xmas as a season of love, giving, sharing and forgiving. Today, we are trying to remember the birth of Jesus Christ, and we are closing today finally for the term, so we engage the children to cheer them up” said Avornyo.

    The Christmas party which was packaged by D’Groove entertainment had other side attractions including jokes, games, and music among others.

  • Navy School best in NECO exams

    The Nigerian Navy Secondary School in Akpabuyo Local Government Area of Cross River State has emerged the overall best in the June/July 2014 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) organised by the National Examination Council (NECO).

    Two of the school’s best performing pupils also got scholarships and medals from Learn Africa Development Foundation to further their studies.

    Speaking during the award of excellence to the school and the best pupils in the examination organised by Learn Africa Foundation in Calabar, the school’s Commandant, Navy Commander Eleazu Uriri said the award is a call to work harder.

    “Even though we are very happy that we (Navy Secondary School) emerged the overall best, having been second best twice, the award is a challenge to continue to provide academic excellence to the students of the school.

    “Attaining the status of best Secondary School in Cross River State was not an easy task to come by due to competition and strive for excellence among schools to get Learn Africa Foundation Development Annual Award,” he said.

    The commandant also thanked the teachers, students and their parents for keying into the vision of the school, which is berthed solely on discipline, excellence and knowledge for development.

    Learn Africa Foundation team leader, Mr Ben Warri said the award and scholarships were instituted in conjunction with NECO to further recognise the importance of excellence in education to national development.

  • School celebrates 20th anniversary

    The Taoheed Schools Alimosho Lagos, has celebrated its 20 anniversary.  The celebration which was held at the Verteville Events Centre Oke-Odo Lagos was attended by members of the school’s old students association.

    Chairman Taoheed Schools Education Board, Alhaji Olaaje Yaqub, noted that despite the fact that the school commenced operation 20 years ago at Aje Central Mosque Oke-Odo with just seven pupils, it has churned out graduates who are now employees in different companies both within and outside Nigeria.

    Yaqub who lamented the poor funding of the school’s new site project, appealed to parents to contribute generously towards the completion of its permanent site.

    Hi words: “The school actually commenced operation on 24th September 1994 at Aje Mosque Oke-Odo with about seven pupils. It has in the last eight years produced graduates who are within and outside the country and some of them are currently working in companies.

    “The major challenge we have today is the funding of our school project which has commenced about four years ago and still under construction. We strongly appeal to all our guests and parents to donate generous towards the construction of the permanent site,”he said.

    Earlier, the President of Taoheed Islamiyya Association of Nigeria (TIAN), Mr Shittu  Akinkunmi Nafiu, said the aim of the anniversary is to show gratitude to God for keeping them alive from when the school was established and till the present time. He therefore urged parents to show more concern for their children’s education through prompt payment of fees and provision of their school needs.

    Commenting on the school, the President of the Old Students’ Association, Ewunuga Sherifdeen said: “This school has really gone far when it comes to training not anyhow pupils but brilliant and competent ones that can compete favourably with their mates anywhere. I can say Taoheed is one of the best schools in Oke-Odo. We are all proud to have graduated from this college. The school has really impacted knowledge in us.”

     

  • School manager appeals to Rivers politicians

    Excited by light of the outstanding performance recorded by the pioneer set of graduands of the Ambassador Nne Furo Kurubo Model Secondary School, Eleme, Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State, the Administrator of the school, Mr Shantaram Hegdekatte, has urged that politics should not be brought into education.

    The school was established by Governor Rotimi Amaechi in 2011 to serve as a model for secondary education.

    Hegdekatte said the 148 graduands were among the 700 pupils admitted into the school solely on merit out of the 7,000 that wrote the entrance examination.  They were admitted into SS1 for their senior secondary education.

    He said they recorded almost 100 per cent pass in the 2014 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

    “No money, no political influence played a role in the intake of students and employment of teachers. It was all done on merit,” he said.

    Given the impending change in government that would happen in the state next year, he advised politicians in the state vying for various political offices not to politicize the educational system.

    Hegdekatte, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Educomp Global, manager of the school, said: “I humbly request that education should not be politicized. Politics should not be brought into schools and colleges.”

    He added that the pupils’ performance was a proof that the teachers and management worked hard to impact knowledge in them.

    The Indian manager said that teachers of the school are made up of expatriates and Nigerians with a minimum of Bachelors Degree certificate.

     

  • Lagos School of History: An exploratory discourse – 2

    What the Ibadan School of History was largely interested in was establishing the fact that Africa had a past that was worthy of study. In other words, they were following European tradition of history for history’s sake. Most of those involved in the development of this school were not concerned with functionality or application of the study of the African past to solve present problems. It is, however, fair to suggest that exponents of the Ibadan school believed in the continuity of human experience from the past to the present and that the past certainly informs the present and that the present can only be totally understood by studying the past and that the present will have an impact on the future. It will be unfair to say that the Ibadan School of History was only interested in the study of history as an intellectual and academic exercise only and that it was not concerned, with the use of history in solving problems that may face society. However, the question of relevance was not a major question. Critics have also accused the Ibadan School of History for not having been concerned with social and economic analysis whereas its main concern was Islamic and Christian proselytisation and colonialism generally and political issues especially the rise and fall of kingdoms and empires. Publications ascribed to the “Ibadan School” include the following; K.O. Dike Trade and Politics in the Niger Delta 1830-1835 (Oxford, 1956), Akinjide Osuntokun Nigeria in the First World War (1979), B.O. Oloruntimehin The Segu Tuklor Empire (1972), Murray Last The Sokoto Caliphate (1977), T.G.O. Gbadamosi The Growth of Islam among the Yoruba 1841-1980 (1978), Fred I.A. Omu Press and Politics in Nigeria 1880-1937 (1978), Akitoye S. Adebanji Revolution and Power Politics in Yorubaland 1840-1893: Ibadan Expansion and the Rise of Ekitiparapo (1971), Tamuno Tekena N. The Evolution of the Nigerian State (1972), Omer-Cooper J.D. The Zulu Aftermath: A Nineteenth Century Revolution in Bantu Africa (1966), Freund Bill Capital and Labour in the Nigerian Tin Mines (1981), Ryder Alan F.C. Benin and Europeans 1485-1897 (1977), Cookey S.J. Sodienye Britain and the Congo Question 1855-1913 (1968), Adewoye Omoniyi The Judicial System in Southern Nigeria 1854-1954: Law and Justice in a Dependency (1977), Adeleye R.A. Power and Diplomacy in Northern Nigeria 1804-1906: The Sokoto Caliphate and its Enemies (1971), Yahya Dahiru Morocco in the Sixteenth Century (1981), Ajayi J.F.A. Christian Missions in Nigeria 1841-1891 (1965), Asiwaju A.I. Western Yorubaland under European Rule 1889-1945 (1976), J.A. Atanda The New Oyo Empire: Indirect Rule and Change in Western Nigeria 1894-1934 (1973), P.A. Igbafe Benin Under British Administration: The Impact of Colonial Rule on an African Kingdom (1978), A.E. Afigbo The Warrant Chiefs: Indirect Rule in Southeastern Nigeria 1891-1929 (1972), J.C. Anene The International Boundaries of Nigeria 1885-1960 (1970) and E.A. Ayandele Missionary Impact on Modern Nigeria 1842-1914 (1966).

    The Ibadan School has been successful in its task of establishing the fact of African history and developing a body of literature to be used in historical pedagogy by teachers and providing literature for the reading public.

    The intellectual erudition of the exponents of the Ibadan School was noticed at home and abroad and many of the older scholars found themselves in the editorial boards of many overseas based distinguished journals as well as in councils and academic bodies on education including at one time Professor J.F. Ade-Ajayi serving as Chairman of Council of the United Nations’ University in Tokyo, Japan. Apart from Kenneth Dike who became the first African Vice Chancellor of the University Of Ibadan, others like J.F. Ade-Ajayi, Emmanuel Ayandele, Tekena Tamuno, S.J. Cookey, Omoniyi Adewoye became vice chancellors of Lagos, Calabar, Ibadan, Port Harcourt and Ibadan respectively. Others became federal ministers and state commissioners not necessarily in the areas related to the history in which they specialised. In other words, those who were appointed into political post did not bring any special knowledge arising from their research into the ministerial departments to which they were posted.  The Department of History of the University of Ibadan became a victim of its own success. The Ibadan scholars did not replicate or reproduce themselves and the department became denuded as a result of a high profile appointments of the academic staff to the extent that at one time the history programme at the fountain head of the Ibadan School of History suffered de-accreditation in the hands of the National Universities Commission. This was the greatest tragedy that could happen to Ibadan which in the 1960s and 1970s was designated centre of excellence in African history. Although things have changed for the better in Ibadan but the lingering effect of what happened to the School is still apparent even till today to the extent that Ibadan School of History has become history and hardly does anyone talk about it today.

    The Lagos School of History seems to have learnt some lessons from the Ibadan School. It did not deliberately set out to be different from the Ibadan School since in any case some of its leadership came from Ibadan and were initially those of its weakest link in the Ibadan School. But as time went on and because of its proximity to government, the academic staff of the University of Lagos, Department of History were individually and severally called upon to advise government on policies which government felt they had expertise and over time the academic staff in the University of Lagos’s Department of History began to see sense in applied history.

  • Abuja school to represent Nigeria in Zimbabwe

    Government Girls’ Secondary School, Abaji has earned the ticket to represent Nigeria at the 2014 African Company of the Year Competition scheduled to take place in Harare, Zimbabwe in December.

    This was due to their superlative performance which placed them at the number one position at the just concluded 2014 National Junior Achievement Company of the year competition, held in Victoria Island, Lagos.

    The competition put together by Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN) with the support of First Bank and SAP company brought together Regional Finalists of Junior Achievement programme from Lagos, Rivers, Enugu and the Federal Capital Territory.

    A statement signed by Ngozi Dike, the press officer of the FCT Agency for Science and Technology said the FCT Team which was led by the Head, Entrepreneurship/ Business Development Unit of the Department of Science and Technology, Muhammed Ibn Saheeb also bagged the special award on Corporate Social Responsibility for using 10 per cent of their business profit to provide scholarship for two indigent pupils – one in primary and the other in secondary school, and also training some Almajiri women in purse and bag making, using local resources.

    In her congratulatory message, the Director of the Department of Science and Technology, Mrs Rosemary Umana, expressed satisfaction with the students’ impressive performance, while urging the young entrepreneurs to come back with the trophy from Zimbabwe and become the agents of change for Nigeria.

    The competition also featured a Trade Fair where competitors took turn to unravel their entrepreneurial products, quality control, marketing strategies and products’ objectives.