Nigeria@57: Lekki British School Celebrates Culture, Values

Funmi Ogundare

The Lekki British High School, Lagos recently commemorated Nigeria’s 57th independence with a programme where its students showcased the country’s culture and values as depicted by their dressing and dance.

Speaking at the programme, the Chief Executive Director of the school, Dr. Biodun Laja, said it is imperative that the students are aware of the country’s independence and can relate well with their values and culture.

On how the education sector has fared in the past 57 years, she said the government must improve education policy and infrastructure, adding that more needs to be done in the area of funding.

“The government should improve and put more funding into the education sector and expose the children. The children in public schools must also be exposed enough to be able to compete side by side with their counterparts in private schools. The children have to be current.”

She added that the government must appoint the right people at the right places. “There is policy inconsistency, the government and those at the helms of affair should put the right people there, we need people who have good records to put things right.” She stressed that children in public schools must be exposed early to ICT.

“The children in private schools are doing better than those in public schools because they are more exposed to such things, not because their parents are rich enough, but because their teachers are better trained and experienced. They put in their best and the children gain a lot much more than children in public schools.”

On how the country can bridge the gap between the rich and the poor, Laja said, “the government can do it by exposing the children to programmes in the private schools during the holidays. We do it in my school. We give scholarships to students from less privileged background I have a ministry where I educate children from less privileged background by sending them to schools in the UK. So far, they have fared well and some of them have become directors of companies. It is fulfilling doing that.”

The Principal, Mr. Ashish Gill said the programme was designed to ensure that students imbibe the country’s cultural values aside the international curriculum. “we also let them know where they belong, and their backgrounds which is very important as a way of exposing them to the culture from different parts of Nigeria.”

He expressed delight that Nigerians have been making a mark in their different fields of endeavour adding, “I feel a lot of boom coming in to the country in the area of ICT so I think a lot of Nigerians are really making a mark in universities all over the world and when they come back, they are able to make an impact in the country.”