TO SUSTAIN the legacy of its founder, Deaconess Bisola Oshinowo, who died on August 28 at the age 82, Grace Schools, Lagos, according to its Administrator, Mrs Tokunbo Edun, will continue with the yearly scholarship award for academically gifted but indigent students from public schools across the country.Speaking at an interactive session with journalists in Lagos, Edun, who is also the daughter of the late founder, attributed the birth of the school in 1968 to the special place her mother has for children in her heart.According to Edun, the late Oshinowo remained steadfast in her vision and dedication to raise children in an enabling and conducive environment with spiritual discipline, which also culminated in the expansion of the school with Grace High School in 1994.'Her vision for the school is to provide complete and quality education with a view to churning out well groomed scholars that will contribute immensely to our society,' she said.Edun recalled: 'My mother started primary one at age 12, but that didn't stop her from her aspiration. Buying the school uniform was a challenge, so she had to improvise and she went to school with left footed sandals. She was very passionate about education and has always been a teacher, so we intend to sustain all the things she holds very dear'.She further explained that in order to give back to the society, the school has been assisting under-privileged children to achieve education that they could not readily afford. Every year, three students from public schools in Lagos are selected for the yearly scholarship scheme, which covers the entire SS1-SS3 classes including the university.The administrator further disclosed that the scholarship covers full tuition, boarding expenses, uniforms, textbooks, stationery, candidates' registration requirements for the West African Senior Scholl Certificate Examination (WASSCE). 'The award commenced in 2004 and provides great opportunity for children who, for some reason, might have been left behind from quality education. So far, 17 students have benefited from the scheme and we still intend to sponsor them to the university level'.While attributing the success of the school to its devotion to creating a conducive environment with state of the art facilities to develop the total child, she stressed that the school also places strong emphasis on the use of learning aids and resources to improve learning capabilities in childrenAs the first Nigerian school to introduce Chinese Language into its curriculum, in collaboration with the Chinese government, she said plans were already in top gear to establish a Confucius classroom, with a direct link with China, to teach the Chinese language.Edun also expressed disappointment over what she described as the lip service of government on the issue of private education in Nigeria ' For us in the private education system, there are a lot of government policies that are not encouraging. They are more concerned with placing huge taxes on us rather than see how we can collaborate for the benefit of the Nigerian child. The tax rates are appalling. In other part of the world, education is subsidised and government even give grants to private institutions, but in Nigeria, how much of our resources actually go to education''On promoting indigenous culture, she acknowledged that most Nigerian children are unable to speak their indigenous language blaming the parents for their failure to teach their children their culture.Principal of the school, Mr. Ronald Cilliers, while giving analyses of the students' performance at national and international examinations, announced that the school recorded a 100 per cent pass in the WASSCE, the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) being organized by the National Examination Council (NECO), including the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the O'level Cambridge examinations.On how education could be managed in the country, Cilliers, a South African, advised that resources should be judiciously utilized for the overall benefit.
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