Proprietress to Govts: Attach More Importance to Education

The Proprietress of Unique Group of Schools, Lagos, Mrs Ayere-Alatise Oluwo, has called on governments at all levels to attach considerable importance to education.

Ayere-Alatise, who noted that the school was established to produce excellent students for national building and development, made the call during the graduation of the Class of ’24 of the Primary section of the school, located at Magodo, Lagos.

The Proprietress, who was represented by the Director of Human Resources and Corporate Communications, Mrs Oluwatobilola Ajibodu, expressed gratitude to the parents and the teachers.

“We will continue to strive for excellence so that our future leaders can be well trained. I thank the parents and our experienced and committed team of teachers.

We also want to urge the government to attach more importance to education. We are grateful to you all, and we pray that all the children will excel in their education,” she said.

The outgone Chairman of the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) of the school, Pastor Olayemi Abraham Olushile, who recalled that he had been a parent in the school for over 16 years and Chairman of PTA for 14 years, said the school pays undivided attention to the children, and that they exhibit so much in terms of academic excellence among other schools in the state.

Olushile however, commended the Lagos State government for embracing contemporary education culture, saying: “For instance, almost all the government schools in the state are CBT compliance. “Education standard generally, be it government or private, is high in Lagos State.

The best UTME result was from a government school in the state two years ago. Most of the schools that pay millions of naira, you won’t see the names of their students as the best for UTME result or WASSCE, it’s a government school you would see,” he said.

The new PTA Chairman, Prince Adeyemi Adeyemi, who said he has two children in the school, also agreed that Lagos State has excelled in education in Nigeria, but urged the government to invest more in education.

“In private and public schools, Lagos State has been doing its best in terms of the quality of teachers in both private and public schools.

But, one of the challenges in public schools is that unlike private schools where the number of children are small and the teachers are able to concentrate effectively on them, it is not so in public schools,” he said.

On his part, the Head of School, Mr. James Ajah, however, described the school as special, dedicated to celebrating the children’s efforts and the excellence they have achieved in their primary school education.

“We are celebrating all the children in the school and all the staff,” he added, explaining why the school is christened unique. Ajah stated: “God is the only personality that is unique, and the name Unique is coined after the attributes of God. Unique set out to partner with God in raising the children that He has entrusted to the people to care for in Godly way.”

Ajah, however, urged the government to allocate a substantial budget to education and ensure that every school meets up with the standard requirements to be able to get approval as a private school.

According to him, public schools must also be upgraded to meet with the standard so that an average Nigerian child can compete with any other child in the world.

“They should maintain standards in terms of infrastructure, faculty, and everything that needs to be done. The government should look into the possibility of supporting the private schools.