Brickhall Embraces a Different Approach to Children's Day Celebration
The place of family in the learning process of children has been emphasised in the cause of the Children's Day celebration.
Just as children were celebrated across the nation on a day set aside by the federal government for children, an exclusive gathering of desirable experience was enjoyed at the Brickhall School, Abuja which embraced a different pattern to children celebration.
Brickhall School believes the family is key to the joy of any child as their celebration, themed ‘Family Funfair’ encouraged parents to bond with pupils and do the needful under the watch of the founder herself.
The founder of Brickhall School, Senator Joy Emordi, a sitting member of the Senate along with the School Director, Barrister Nneka Emordi- Eze, the Head teacher, Mr. Sampson Akor and other staff of the school, with enthusiasm ensured parents bonded with every child present effectively.
The Head teacher, Akor says the school thought it very important in the life of every student to get a platform where the home front gets involved.
“It is not always work and no play,” he said, as play itself is very important for learning. Every child here and outside the school is entitled to fun, which is what the school has encoded in the event.
Families from far and near joined in the fun as vendors interestingly utilised the opportunity to showcase items thought beneficial - books of both home and foreign authors to encourage good reading culture, clothing accessories on display for parents interested in picking up one or two things, various dishes, drinks and more engaged the awareness advantage of the event.
Nigeria's educational system, according to Akor had some ups and down.
"Looking at where we are now in terms of the availability of resources, a lot has been done. Considering Improvement in technology, school system has grown. The Internet was not there way back when we went to school. Some of us went through school without ever seeing a computer but all of that has changed. Government has almost met the UNESCO standard where every nation is expected to put in about 30 per cent of its annual budget in education," Akor said.
According to him, although, much work still has to be done in terms of infrastructure, there is a huge improvement from education started way back to where it is today.
"On the other hand, we have the downside, where we have some of our current textbooks not up to standard. In the course of trying to review old books, the content has melted. There is also much distraction in terms of curriculum (lots of subjects put together under one umbrella). There is a huge drop in commitments from students, higher percentage of them have a game consular at home, the Internet is there, social media all over the place, there is a lot of distraction and for that reason many of student are not committed to learning like in the past just as we have parents who now believe in miracle centres where they can pass results."
The solution, he said, is for an educator to look further than just the grades to what children can offer on the spot. Even when employing teachers, he advised that emphasis should not be on the price of grade presented but what can be offered adequately.
Citing himself as an example, he said: "I read Chemistry in my first and second degrees but I teach English here because for me it comes naturally. It is something I have done over the years. Right from the days in secondary school, I was the best graduate of English Language, I have gone on to read so many books, I have gone on to develop myself even to the point that other graduates of English are scared of me. I did not read English as a course but I know English."
Of three people out there who teach diction, he added, two are likely not be graduates of English Language. What one becomes inherent, according to him, is far more better than what you claim to have by way of elasticity.
Contrary to the ideology of many parents and societal expectation regarding fees of a school that runs British- Nigerian curriculum with large focus on developing all the intellect/skills of children, the affordability is as the fees of one child in other schools paying for four at Brickhall.