The just-concluded anniversary and silver jubilee of the 25 years in academic excellence of Federal College of Education (Technical) Staff School, Akoka Lagos has come and gone, but has turned out more than 20 sets of graduates that were recently absorbed into the primary section of the school. OGUNTADE ISMAILA reports.
The FCE (T) Staff School Akoka in Yaba, Lagos is a unique school as its contributions to the educational and manpower development of the country cannot be overemphasised.
Virtually in all fields of academic endeavours: arts, science, entrepreneurship, teaching, among others, the school has continued to excel to the delight of Nigerians.
No doubt, it is a citadel of learning with a great vision to create a healthy, disciplined, orderly, trust-worthy and caring environment where teaching and learning are excitedly done and pupils are assisted to develop moral, academic and behavioural excellence.
The five-day event commenced with rally and great enthusiasm of joy and happiness by students and teachers alike and their visitors.
Highlights of the event
Several programmes slated for the celebration from day one to the fifth day included the inauguration of alumni, career talk, a novelty match, cultural day, unity in diversity, thanksgiving service as well as fund raising and meritorious award of excellence for teachers who distinguished themselves and shown commitment to rendering services in their line of duties.
The occasion witnessed a discussion led by a specialist on the topic, ‘Parenting in the 21st Century: The Role of Religious Bodies, Schools, Peers, Home and Social Media’.
The discussion also highlighted a situation when a community member can help in parenting a child when the parents are not around. It also centred on a situation where a neighbour disciplines a child; but lamented that a teacher can no longer discipline a child and where applicable have been extreme in the use of cane.
The discourse noted that with all the increasing crime rates, explicit sexuality on social media, cyber bulling and a lot more, the society is exposed to dangers.
Speakers after speakers
One of the speakers, an author and college counsellor, Dr (Mrs) Olanipekin said that both the school and parents have roles to play in parenting a child.
She stated that when one is talking about 21st century, one is looking at pupils from 2010 to 2014, noting that the way they nurture them is different from the way they parented the older ones.
“Many old methods of parenting a child are outdated, we cannot continue the same way and get the same result.
“Many parents have refused to create a bed life time boundary while some are not even close to their children and spend quality time with them,“ she said.
She therefore urged the parents to adopt the positive parenting approach by bonding with them emotionally, show love, care and support them in whatever they are doing instead of comparing them with others.
She however, added that the primary role of discipline lies in the hand of a parent and not a teacher.
Another speaker, the Head Department of Economics Dr (Mrs) Oyegunwa, said that parenting is a holistic thing, therefore not just for one person. Accotding to her, whenever we talk about social media, we are equally talking about technology which has its own advantage.
She was of the opinion that there was no where one can connect with the social media without the use of the internet; therefore, for a child to have access to social media, that means such a child has internet facility.
“Does that means that it’s out of way for our children to have Internet facility?
“What we are saying is that our children need to be guarded.
“There are several apps on the internet, but we must not leave them unguarded,“ she said.
From head teacher, others
Speaking to Blueprint on the sideline of the event, the head teacher, Dr (Mrs) Fasanmi T A said that the school is unique and a destination of choice by students and staff, including the parents.
She stated that the school was established 25 years ago and still remains one of the best since it was established.
According to her, “The pioneer head teacher, Mrs Arinola Adegoke, did a very good job because before you are assigned to class as teacher, you must undergo training of three months, no matter the type of school you are coning from.
“When I got here, I got another orientation and better ways of teaching to edifying and making sure that these children are well grounded.”
According to her, “Another reason the school is doing well is because we have qualified graduates, Masters and Doctorate degree holders as teachers. The least qualification is NCE; and they are usually assigned as assistant class teachers.
She used the opportunity to express her vision for the school and the need for further expansion.
“For sometime now, we have been turning down students since there is no class to accommodate them. What you are witnessing is part of anniversary to raise funds and launch 12 class rooms and laboratories for Home Economics, Fine Arts and many more.
“We are taking the school to another level where it will be known internationally so that we can be competing with other international schools in Nigeria and Africa.
“One of our students, Balogun Shubomi won arts competition in Lagos and represented Nigeria on scholarship to London,” she added.
Fasanmi, however, urged the federal government to listen to the cry of teachers by raising their pay packet, promotion and other benefits.
Also speaking, the board chairperson of the school, Dr (Mrs) Oluwakemi Oyetunbo, thanked the Almighty God for the success of the anniversary celebration. She also commended the management team and entire board members for their support to make the anniversary a success.
The provost, Dr Wahab Ademola Azeez in his closing remarks commended the teachers and staff for their hardwork, perseverance and tolerance to stay with the school over the years.
According to him, “May I used this opportunity to commend the hardwork of teachers of FCE (T) Staff School Akoka for their diligence on duty.
“There is something unique about these teachers, not just because they are teachers. I have gone round, what is unique is that many of the teachers that started with the school since 1998 are still with the school up till now.”
Continuing, he said, “It is very rare to see such unique teachers like these ones in FCE (T) Staff School Akoka.”
Ademola, specially commended the former head teacher, Mrs Arinola O. Adegoke, for her immense contribution, saying, “The projects you started had germinated well.“
The provost stated that he was very happy to have this celebration for the development of Nigeria’s education.
“My wishes for the school, even as we are celebrating 25 years of academic excellence is to get more graduates who would also come back to contribute to the development of the school.
“I also wish that the school during this hard times would be better developed and expanded so that we can have more pupils to train and become better in life,” he said.
