Bianca Iboma
Hope Children School reputed to be the first primary school in, Ajegunle, Apapa, Lagos State clocked 50 years recently.
The Executive Director of the school, Dr. Tolu Sodimu spoke with The Education Report on the achievements and challenges faced by the institution in the last 50 years among other issues.
Your school turned 50 years last month. Tell us about the school and how have you been able to sustain the brand?
Hope Children School Nursery and Primary was established by my mother, Late Chief (Mrs.) Alicemay Oyin Oladapo, on January 22, 1968. My late mum used to work for the Federal Ministry of Health and was always sent to train women in other countries by former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon. She developed the passion for training and teaching and this love and vision resulted to her opening the first primary school in Ajegunle Apapa 50 years ago.
We have sustained the brand by having very effective structures, systems and standards in place. We have solid operating procedures and policies along with experienced, passionate, and seasoned professionals. We have stayed true to our mission of providing quality education at an affordable fee to produce credible future leaders.
At Hope Children School, we have a culture of continuous improvement which has helped to elevate our brand and make it quite relevant in our community. We also pride ourselves of being family and community-oriented; every student, teacher and parent is part of our family and is treated as such. All these have contributed to the sustenance of our brand.
What are the major achievements recorded in the past 50 years?
Hope is a trusted educational brand in our community. Since inception, it has produced credible and successful leaders. We have directly and indirectly influenced the start up of private schools in Lagos State. Hope Children School was the first nursery and primary school in Ajegunle and we contributed to the employment growth of the area. The school is the little mustard seed that has now grown to have a lot of branches in Lagos State most notably in Apapa, Agboju and Okokomaiko. We have kept up with technology and enviable methods of teaching to groom our students for the future.
What makes the school different from others?
We have good structures and systems in place along with experienced, focused and dedicated staff. A culture of academic excellence, high moral standards, and a collective capacity to create value has been the bedrock of our Hope community also helps to drive the objective. Also, our standard facilities, conducive environment for learning as well as our provision of affordable, quality education help to facilitate the growth and achievement of our students.
As I mentioned earlier, we are a family and community-oriented school. We have generations of families in the school. I have students who attended in the 60s whose children and some grandchildren are in the school currently. We are a trusted and effective institution, but most importantly, everyone is treated as though they are part of the family. This family orientation ensures that all students and parents are treated with the utmost care and respect. Also, we invest in nurturing our students so that they can achieve immeasurable success in all their endeavours.
We also make sure we stay ahead of the curve. We continually send our teachers for training to develop and perfect excellent academic methods and standards of teaching. Our staffs are also incredibly dedicated; we have a staffer that has spent 35 years in the system. We are also continuously working on our reading culture, while also paying attention to the extracurricular activities of our learners. Because of this, we have won many awards in quiz, debates, and sports. We have also made sure to retain important things like African History in our curriculum. I believe that our children must know our history and our African heroes.
When are you celebrating the 50th anniversary?
We will be celebrating the anniversary on May 1 to coincide with the 14th year remembrance of our founder, Late Chief Oladapo. We will celebrate all through the week, but the final thanksgiving celebration will be on May 1, 2018.
What efforts are you making to involve the alumni of the school in your anniversary?
My team and I have done detailed search to locate old students of the school especially on social media for our HOPE@50 celebration. We have found quite a few but are still looking for everyone who has ever walked through our halls. We have an alumni page on Facebook – Hope Children School Apapa Alumni Group. Hope at 50 should have a formidable old student association and we are appealing to our old students to reach out to their alma mater and to celebrate and support us.
What attribute of the founder of the school still keeps the institution going?
My mother was a visionary leader and unique individual. Some of her attributes that have kept the school going are: dedication, hard work, passion, consistency, diligence, attention to detail, love for all tribes as she spoke several Nigerian languages. She was also generous and excellent in all aspects and the love of God.
What are the major challenges?
There are many schools that have sprouted in the community. Some of them even bear a similar name to ours and they try to tell prospective parents that we are the same school, but we are not. Some schools even copy our uniform style and colours, however the quality of our school and the education received by our students cannot be mimicked and to God be the glory, this has helped us overcome these challenges.
Another challenge is the high cost of educational materials, and the economy situation in the country. We would greatly appreciate private corporate companies’ partnership and sponsorship. We are in the underserved portion of Lagos State – Ajegunle Apapa providing quality education at an affordable fee to create credible leaders. It’s not always easy to provide this service while getting little fees.
What are the future plans for the school?
We intend to expand into more locations in Lagos and hopefully a university soon by the special grace of God.
Source: The Sun
We appreciate you for reading our post, but we think it will be better you like our facebook fanpage and also follow us on twitter below.