Education, now not taken as priority: — Ogundiran

 
Chief Fola Ogundiran shares his experience as a principal, and how he tried to restore standards in a 50-year-old institution battling to survive in an environment that was not supportive, in this interview with Peter Oke. Excerpts

Fifty years down the line, has IDGS justified the vision of its founding fathers?
Iseyin District Grammar School (IDGS) was established as a co-educational institution in 1964, and existed as the second secondary school in Oke-Ogun area of Western Region of Nigeria then. Initially, it was to take care of pupils from Iseyin district and its environs but it became elastic later and absorbed pupils from the entire Oke-Ogun area and beyond. The founding fathers of the school envisioned an institution that would not only provide western education, but also teach morals without forgetting culture. This is reflected in the school’s motto: Education, moral and culture. This tripod is the basis on which all-round education rested as envisioned by the founders of the school. So, the school has fully justified their vision.

School system then and now
There is a lot of difference between school system then and now. Most schools do not keep children in the boarding house now, school life is now incomplete. Nowadays, the day students spend more than two-thirds of a day at home and they engage in non-academic activities like street trading and domestic chores, thus neglecting their studies, as well as take-home assignments. With the boarding system of old, there was a timetable that was dominated by academics, as well as co-curricular activities. School life in those days was total education of the learners unlike now that education is taken as part-time.

Reforms made at IDGS
The Iseyin community requested me to come to Iseyin and put in the experience I gathered over the years from my former schools especially those of in Ibadan. So, I saw my coming to Iseyin IDGS as a big challenge. Against this background, I came to IDGS strictly guided by two philosophies viz: to leave the place better than I met it and to do all to the glory of God, according to  1 Corinthians 10 verse 30.

These philosophies propelled me into action. Initially, I embarked on the beautification of the school by planting flowers and ornamental trees; the resuscitation of the boarding system accommodating about 35 girls and 65 boys in the school compound was next. To enhance security of the students resident in the school compound, I found it expedient to embark on the fencing of the school premises.

Apart from infrastructural development in the school, I impacted on the level of discipline of both the teachers and the students and this has direct bearing on the teaching and learning processes in the school. Besides the enormous job of administering the biggest school, I still created time to thread my familiar terrain by teaching the SS 3 students Further Mathematics. Perhaps achieving these feats within a short span of five years makes me stand out as the best principal the school had.

Challenges
Yes, I had a lot of challenges. Initially, on the beautification of the school compound, the free range animals ate up the flowers and ornamental trees planted and we had to arrest and detain the goats and sheep in the school before the police advised that the animals be brought to the police station where the owners had to pay some amount of money for the release.  The owners of the animals did not find this action palatable and there was a lot of hue and cry.

The fencing of the school premises was another brick wall in that the bigwigs in the town had encroached and laid foundations of their buildings on the school land. I reached out for the school master plan from the Town Planning Authority and as many of such that encroached on the school land had to give way for the school fence. These illegal occupants went all out to demolish three times at night the school fence constructed before they were stopped by the law enforcement agency.

The discipline of the students was upright and teachers were kept on their toes even though it took some time before they adjusted. There was none of these remarkable things done that did not meet with serious opposition and resistance but with good focus I did not succumb.

Qualifications for a merit award
I think my input as enumerated above qualified me for the award more than anything else. The merit award presented to me by the Old Students Association during the golden anniversary of the school as ex-principal of the school was “in recognition of my immense contributions to the growth and development of the school.”

Contributions by old students to help the school
   Indeed the old students have been of tremendous help to the school. During the school’s yearly anniversaries, they would converge in the school to deliberate on how to improve the school’s infrastructural facilities. I laid the foundation stone of the school clinic built and equipped by one of the old students who happens to be my younger brother. The school clinic, school hall, the administrative block, as well as many class room blocks renovated by the old students of the school were all commissioned during the golden anniversary of the school on February 29, 2014.

A don at the University of Ibadan sponsored the school fees of some indigent students of the school. It was the assistance of an old student of the school that helped me procure the school master plan from the Town Planning Authority which facilitated the fencing of the school land. In short, the contribution of the old students to the school was quite tremendous.

Cause of decline in education
There are so many causes of the decline in education. It is multi-dimensional - the parents, the students the school, as well as the government. There is total lack of commitment on the part of all stakeholders. Some drastic steps have to be taken to stem this abysmal decline.
source: http://www.tribune.com.ng/quicklinkss/features/item/9069-education-now-not-taken-as-priority-ogundiran

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