The CMS Grammar School Bariga, one of the oldest schools in Lagos State, says it is going back to its original status of full boarding to improve morals from September.
Rev. Jacob Ogunyinka, Principal of the school, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.
Ogunyinka said that the present arrangement of both boarding and day systems had not been helpful.
He said that there were ways students should be mentored and monitored to mould them in a particular way of life to be responsible.
According to him, when they are shown the right way, step and channel to follow, they will not be influenced by vices.
“They will not just be seen going everywhere, however, I am not saying they are perfect.
“The very first time the CMS Grammar School was established in 1859, it was for boarders only. The idea was to have an enabling ground to achieve three points agenda; sound spiritual knowledge, excellence in moral and in academics.
“Unlike the time we are now, where students will come to school, we teach them between the hours of 8.a.m. to 4 p.m. and they go home, we don’t know what they do afterwards.
“But if they are all in the school hostel, it will help the management to organise the students and put them in the arrangement made in the system. As we all know, a full boarding is different from a day school.
“In the new arrangement, students can be monitored, controlled, checked and in order to achieve the three points agenda of the school. Therefore, it is fundamental that we go back to the original setting,” he added.
The principal said that the new arrangement would take effect from the forthcoming 2022/2023 academic calendar, which kicks off in September.
“Any student coming or seeking admission in the CMS Grammar School must be ready to be a boarder, that is the new rule,” Ogunyinka said.
He also disclosed that plans were ongoing by the school management to introduce international examinations for the students.
Ogunyinka said that the management would put in place structure that would help students to study and stay focused.
This, he said, would be the starting point for them to excel academically and in other areas of lives.
The clergy expressed displeasure at the poor life style of some members of the society, especially in academic.
“The Bible has admonished us that we should teach a child the way he should grow and when he grows, will not depart from it, that is exactly what we want to do.
“We want to lay a proper and solid foundation for them even in institutions of higher learning and when they attain adulthood, they will approach life and positions, with the right perspective and positive mindset.
“If you ask some youths of today, they will tell you that education is a scam and that is what we want to correct, that education is key, a bedrock and legacy parents and society can bequeath to their children and wards,” Ogunyinka said.
The CMS Grammar School, an acronym from the Christian Missionary Society (CMS), is the oldest secondary school in Nigeria, founded on June 6, 1859 by the late Reverend Babington Macaulay.
-NAN
