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‘Schools should Organise Mentorship Programmes to Aid Students’ Devt’ Mrs. Loretta Onyia, the Principal Consultant, Lindell Global Resources, is the Consultant and Communication Manager of Central Emirates International Academy, Abuja. In this interview with Ugo Aliogo, she highlighted the importance of extra-curricular activities to students’ overall success Why did the school decide to organise the forthcoming boot camps and what does it hope to achieve? The school’s vision is to carry along every Nigerian child and sharpen them to greatness irrespective of their background, religion and social status. It strongly believes that mentorship programmes should be organised by schools to help the development of children. So when the school approached me that it wanted to organise an event and will love to have notable sports legends and artists to perform, I told the proprietress how expensive it will be to bring Nigeria’s ex-football internationals such as Austin Okocha popularly known as Jay Jay Okocha and Tijani Babanginda, and one time winner of Big Brother Africa, but she insisted that she wanted the children to interact with them. The Nigerian child needs to know that it is possible to be like their role models, for that reason they must meet these individuals. That is how it all started. The school is going to run a three-day boot camp in Abuja and it can comfortably take about 1,000 children from nine to 22 years. There will be enough accommodation and feeding. We are inviting children with talents in singing, acting, sports and others for those three days. Let them come and kick the ball with Okocha and others. We have billboards in the six geopolitical zones for the event because we want the Nigerian child to excel and we feel the best way for these children to excel is to meet masters in a particular field. My relationship with the school makes me feel the passion they have for the education of every Nigerian child and the fact that there is still hopes for the development of education in Nigeria. This is a school that has the type of equipment that will amaze you. This is the first school that started training children on drone usage. It has a big drone centre open for children who are passionate about technology and ICT. Experts in ICT will come in to train them during the boot camp, even teach the children about coding. When was the school established? Central Emirates International Academy was established five years ago. The school’s first set of WAEC students gathered last year with 100 per cent pass. In one of my interaction with the proprietress, she told me that there are so many dysfunctional children in the country that need help and the school has the capacity to take children as young as three years old. We have full boarding facilities even on holidays with matrons attending to children 24 hours. What have been the challenges in the past ďŹ ve years? The first challenge the school had to contend with was teachers’ quality. Our youths are extremely brilliant and intelligence, but when you want to balance the certification with the teaching practical, there is disconnect. That is why the school opened a full Montessori training centre to train teachers. The teachers are permanently on training every Saturday.
The school has good water treatment plant for safe drinking water and a bakery. These students are fed six times a day. When I look at the school and see things that have been done, I always thank God that in Nigeria we still have a school where students are given all-around education. Is the camp going to be an annual event? It is planned to become an annual event; we are going to be bringing different celebrities from different professions. Apart from the three celebrities invited, we have others line-up for this year’s event. We have fantastic artists that are recognised internationally that will be with the children for painting and drawing exhibitions. We have people that will teach them different kinds of dance. It is going to be three days of fun and children will be fed at the camp. What will it cost a parent to register his/ her child? Multiple entry is N20,000 and single entry is N25,000. Parents can come with their children. There is accommodation for everyone and if you don’t want to stay you can come and go home after each day’s event.
Onyia We invite experts, and consultants in different fields to train the teachers. That has been the challenge but the school out- shadowed it and today we have quality teachers. We have been able to make History and Government compulsory for secondary school students. History is compulsory for the students whether they are in science or art class. In America for instance, from your first year you are compelled to study History. When a school owner takes such risks, it makes me respect the organization, their credibility and what they are doing for the Nigerian child because it is all about the child at the end of the day. Why are we sending our children to Europe and America because we want excellent and quality education for them? We have started A-Level class since January, 2018. We started our A-level and Foundation so that the students can start their second year programmes in any part of the world even in Nigeria. What more can you ask for. How affordable is the school fees? It is extremely affordable and we have an on-going scholarship programme; the last set of students who took WAEC, 65 per cent of them were on scholarship. We went round Abuja and neighbourhood, Anagada, a satellite town in Abuja to register children whose parents could not afford quality education. We advised them to give us their A students for us to train and prepare them for WAEC. We offer scholarships and our fees are extremely cheap and affordable for the middle class and low income earners. Why do you feel the proprietress has the passion in ensuring that every Nigerian
child has quality education? The proprietor said to me that whenever she travels to Europe and America, she observes how American children do things. She said imagine a child of 12 coding, playing musical instruments in an amazing manner, a child of eight years being patriotic about his/her nation, writing history that is unbelievable. She said our children can do it but the only reason our children cannot do it is because they cannot afford the school fees that worth millions of naira which makes her uncomfortable. A nation that children are not fully educated and they do not have the opportunity to receive an all-round education. What will happen to such nation? She resolved that she would want to be remembered for giving the Nigerian child an all-round education; giving the Nigerian child global education that will make the child stand out in any part of the world with confidence to excel. How does the school get funds considering the number of students on scholarship, is it getting any government support? We have not gotten any government support or sponsorship from private organisations, but Hassan always tells me to leave a legacy that transforms a child’s life. She is happy that she has been able to leave a legacy that is going to outlive her. We have a centre where children can learn coding, science and engineering. We have a Montessori centre for our teachers, and ICT centre with almost 600 laptops. We have a fully stocked library. Apart from Physics, Chemistry and Biology laboratory, we also have laboratory for every subject’s practical. We have almost 18 laboratories and enough space. We have two big stadium of international standard.
What is your advice to parents and guardians? The world is a global village; it is getting smaller every day and one cannot hide. Parents should give their children an all-round education. An all-round education means that the child should not get stuck with only academic works. The child should have an opportunity to learn everything positive from sports, art and culture. Every child has a talent, let’s discover their talents before they turn 15. Take your child to a school with all activities and not all about academics. Are you satisďŹ ed with the standard of education in the country? The standard of some government schools is unsatisfactory. I feel that not much attention is being paid by government to meet the educational needs of the present generation. The structure of the system is that if you cannot afford quality education, you go to public schools. It is all criminal. We need to remodel our students before they go out into the world of work. I recruit and I know what we go through during the recruitment. We have to re-train 95 per cent of them. What will you advice government to do? Manpower training is key; once a teacher is trained, he should have passion for he is doing and understand the future of the children they are teaching, and then there will be a total turnaround of mind-set and orientation. That is why at Central Emirates International Academy, we are regularly training our teachers every week. Teaching is a passionate job you must love it and be excited about it. We cannot have fantastic buildings, equipped laboratories; buy books for our libraries without the right manpower.
Babcock Varsity Matriculates 2,998 Students No fewer than 2,998 students comprising undergraduates and postgraduates filed out recently to take the oath of allegiance at the 20th matriculation ceremony of Babcock University, IlishanRemo, Ogun State. The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ademola Tayo said since its inception in 1999, the institution has become a pace-setter in university education in the country, earning a reputation as a global brand. According to him, since 2015 till date,
it has consistently won the Global Brand Award (education category) at the World Branding Forum at Kensington Palace, London. He welcomed the students to the institution, saying that their oath of allegiance marked the beginning of their journey of success in life, to become outstanding leaders of thought, professionals and distinguished professors in their chosen fields. Tayo said he was seeing before him leaders with a
difference that will turn the nation around for success, adding that the institution will give them the needed support to achieve this goal. “Therefore, refuse to join others in the larger society who will always prefer to cut corners,� he said, while admonishing parents to collaborate with the university to make the best out of their children both academically and spiritually. The VC said Babcock University was founded on the golden principle of
leadership through Christian education with the vision to transform lives, including absolute regard for excellence in teaching, research and service delivery. “We are thankful to God for making us to be who we are, to achieve what we have so far achieved. We are equally thankful to our parents for your support and contributions,� he said. In the recently released Nigerian Bar result of the Nigerian Law School, he said the institution produced four
first class students with 100 per cent pass, thus emerging one of the best universities in Nigeria running law programme having emerged the best in the Law School examinations in 2015, 2016 and third best in 2017. According to him, the Cardiovascular Centre of Babcock University Teaching Hospital has offered opportunities to hundreds of Nigerians whose lives could have been cut short due to heart-related problems and has so far performed
successful heart surgeries on over hundred patients referred to the centre within and outside the country. He assured parents of the matriculants that the institution is determined to change the ill fortune of the education sector in Nigeria, adding that it is one of the reasons why products of the institution are occupying positions of prominence in the country and winning awards in internationally recognised institutions abroad.