The Principal, King’s College Lagos, Mr Andrew Agada, says the institution is gradually returning to its glory days, following the performance of students in recent public examinations.
Agada was reacting to the 355 score posted by one of the
students, Emmanuel Lawal, at this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation
Examination (UTME) organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board
(JAMB).
Recall that JAMB had, at its recent policy meeting, listed
students who scored 300 and above as the best performers in its 2022 UTME.
“We’re gradually making it back to the top; this is what we
have been looking for.
“The glory days of this institution are gradually returning,
following this performance of Emmanuel and many others, and I must say it is
heart warming.
“We are improving and we want to keep on improving,” Agada
told the News Agency of Nigeria in an interview on Tuesday in Lagos.
The principal said that, against this backdrop, Lawal would
be gifted a total of N400,000 from the college and other key stakeholders of
the 113-year-old all-boys school.
He said that he had promised the boys that the best among
any of them that would post 300 and above, would be celebrated.
“I made this promise last year, that is, for the set of
2021, and one of them actually posted over 300 in that year’s UTME; but due
to some family concerns, he could not be
celebrated.
“However, this year, I am proud to announce that one of our
students is also among those who did exceptionally well, scoring 355 at the
2022 UTME.
“To live up to my promise, the college has, in addition to
the N100,000 pledge, made a huge picture frame of Lawsl, displayed
conspicuously at the entrance of the administrative block.
“Not only that, when the college and parents met at a
meeting ( PTA), I brought the good news up and how much we have been striving
to improve on our academic activities.
“A parent, who was elated, also appreciated the college for
motivating the boys; he also announced a pledge of another N100,000 for Lawal.
“Same goes for the School Based Management Committee (SBMC)
Chairman, Alhaji Jani Ibrahim, who also expressed joy on the development and
pledged another donation of N100,000.
“The information also got to Alhaji Kashim Ibrahim-Imam,
President, King’s College Old Boys
Association (KCOBA) and he reached me to say
the association is also supporting the college with another N100,000 to
encourage the students,” he said.
The principal said that, with the total donation amounting
to N400,000, Lawal would be presented the cash prize on Saturday, Aug. 13, at
the college’s speech and prize giving ceremony.
He said that this was aside the flex made for him as the
face of King’s College 2022.
Agada said that Lawal was also adequately featured in the
college’s year book, to further celebrate him.
According to him, to motivate the students further, he also
made a pledge to the Junior Secondary School (JSS 3) students.
He said that the college, with time, would increase the
prize for best performance in all public examinations.
“I told them that, for those that score 9As in their
subjects in another public examination, the Basic Education Certificate
Examination (BECE), I will pay their first term school fees as they progress to
Senior Secondary School (SSS1).
“And recently, we received the results, and so far on face
count, I have more than five of them that scored 9As.
“In fact, the highest scored 10As, including Arabic
language. These are things we are doing to encourage these our children.
“For those of them that are doing well academically but are
indigent, we also go out of our way to seek scholarship for them, and like the
session that had just ended, one of our old boys instituted a foundation that
we were not even aware of.
“As we were making contacts, we got across to them and they
were able to give scholarship to 37 of such students and paid their school fees
for an entire session. This will relieve a lot of burden too from their
parents,” Agada told NAN.
He lauded the teachers, whom he described as one of the main
drivers of the successes recorded, for their commitments and show of love to
the students.
The principal said that they could not be adequately
rewarded.
“I think I owe the entire success recorded by those students
to the teachers, for their dedication and cooperation.
“They have been wonderful, and my simple prayer is for God
alone to reward them adequately.
“They should keep doing what they know how to do best, not
looking at the principal, the government or the parents.
“Government cannot do it all alone, especially in the face
of the current global economic crisis.
“It has been doing a lot to provide the enabling environment
for the college to thrive.
“I also want to commend the Old Boys for their tremendous
support, in terms of giving a facelift to some of our facilities.
“This has also been a source of encouragement to the
students, and the PTA, for their intervention too, especially in the area of
teachers recruitment for the college.
“A good number of the old boys too come in from time to time
to deliver moral talks to our students and this has been inspiring.
“The SBMC chairman too has been a tremendous pillar, a
wonderful ally of the college,” he said.
According to Agada, the college, which will celebrate its
113 years founder’s day in September, is struggling with issues of
overstretched facilities, following pressure from the population.
He said that there was the need for adequate classrooms at
the college’s main campus, more teachers
in core subjects, as well as teachers’ accommodation on campus, to enhance
productivity.
The principal said that the college had graduated over 1,500
students in the last three years, adding that performance in their WASSCE had
been top notch.
“For instance, in 2021WASSCE, we recorded 99 per cent, that
is for those that scored five credits and above, including English and Mathematics.
“So, I think we are not doing badly, but our goal is to be
number one,” he said.
On the protracted strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff
Union of Universities (ASUU), Agada appealed to both the Federal Government and
the striking lecturers to seek a common ground.
He said this was important in order for the students to
return to the classrooms.
“We should realise that an idle mind is the devil’s
workshop. So, we must find a solution to the issues and urgently too, so that
these children don’t fall prey to vices that are capable of compromising their
future.
“Giving the fact too that we are going into an
electioneering year, it will be better to get them meaningfully engaged so that
they are not used for some anti election practises,” he said.
0 comments:
Post a Comment