Fides Media Living the Faith
By Michael Nnebife
St John of God Secondary School, Awka, has put strategic measures in motion to ensure it remains at par with other leading secondary schools in Nigeria and for its personnel to perform optimally for academic excellence as the 2023/2024 Academic Session kicks off.
The Manager of the school, Rev Fr Malachy Maduewesi, gave the hint in his office while having a chat with the press on resumption for new academic activities.
The manager, who spoke extensively on his school’s pre-resumption engagement to ensure its personnel had up-to-date skills expected of the 21st Century teachers, explained that there was no increment in the school’s tuition fee, adding that the management had gone the extra mile to effect some intervention in the areas of resource materials such as textbooks, among others.
‘We had so many pre-resumption activities which include a two-day retreat, themed, ”Reorientation and Retraining of the Teachers for optimum Effectiveness and Performance” in preparation for capacity building of our teachers in view of a successful academic year.
‘On the first day, we had a workshop and seminar anchored by wonderful resource personnel who include a member representing Aguata (Education) Zone in the Anambra State Post Primary School Services Commission, Dr Bibian Okoli, who took Paper I which dealt with some key aspects of the schools and 21st century skills in teaching and learning.
‘The Chancellor of the Catholic Diocese of Awka, Rev Fr Charles Ndubisi, also gave us a keynote address.
‘The second day, we had reorientation of the staff which bordered on attitudinal change which will help them to positively discharge their duties. This was tagged, ”Positive Teachers’ Attitude to Work: An Essential Ingredient for maximum productivity”, anchored by a member representing Awka (Education) Zone in the Anambra State Post Primary School Services Commission, Dr Mrs Uche Okeke.
‘All these were geared towards equipping the teachers intellectually for the success of this academic session,’ Rev Fr Maduewesi said.
He continued, ‘I have made personal effort to get resource materials at the cheapest rate. The tuition fee did not actually increase. Some of the things that warranted some increment in price which we have no control of, include school uniform; but other resource materials like textbooks, we are selling cheaper than Onitsha and Eke Awka,’ he noted.
However, the Manager expressed worry over a situation he said students reported teachers to their cultist friends for being punished by the teachers, lamenting that the situation had been resulting in harassing and intimidating the teachers by the cultists.
He also identified late coming among students as a worrisome challenge but however expressed optimism that the measure already put in place by the school management against the anomaly was working effectively in minimizing it.
While appreciating the state governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, for what he described as his laudable initiatives and efforts so far in education, Rev Fr Maduewesi called on the state government to do more by sponsoring all educational programmes, noting with belief that the government had the capacity to make basic education totally free.
He expressed readiness to support and work with the government in all initiatives that would not compromise, but promote and enhance standards of education.
Rev Fr Maduewesi further thanked the parents for sending their children to school and appealed to them to cooperate with school authorities in the disciplining of the children, stressing that without discipline, nobody could learn anything.