‘A school is only as good as its teachers’
The quality of education a child receives during their early years lays foundation for future achievements. In this interview OYINDAMOLA EGBEYEMI, Executive Administrator and Strategist at Tender Loving School, Ikoyi highlights how they are striving to give children a significant beginning. She spoke to STEPHEN ONYEKWELU. Excerpts:
Tell us a little about your professional background.
I am a graduate of Chemical Engineering from the Imperial College, London. I started my career as an engineer but have always had passion for finding strategic solutions to problems. This took me to the world of consulting at Accenture and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
During my consulting career, I worked with both private and public sector clients in the Oil & Gas, Manufacturing, Media & Advertising, Education and Social Development sectors; as well as Cross River State and Lagos State Governments.
I have been a member of Toastmasters International for nearly five years. Through the communication and leadership training offered by this organisation, earned the Competent Communication and Competent Leadership awards for my personal development. I have also served in various positions on the Executive Committee of the Eagle Toastmasters Club for over four years and currently occupy the position of Immediate Past President.
Why should anyone bring their child to TLS?
In a sentence, TLS brings a unique personal touch to bear on the education of children. We have qualified and certified teachers. Some of them are currently taking courses to obtain their Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGCE) from the United Kingdom. I believe a school is only as good as its teachers.
What is the purpose of your role?
The focus of my role here really is to ensure that we are all happy and TLS serves the best interest of the children, parents and its community even better. About 40 of the parents responded to a survey I passed around a few weeks ago, and we are very pleased to have received a great amount of positive feedback.
What are some of the school’s landmark achievements?
The most obvious is the new building and facilities. The playground is ready, the football field will be ready for full use very soon and we could like to thank the Ogunlaja’s (Ademide and Anjola’s parents) who have volunteered to lay the astro turf for this.
We are also working to attain accreditation from reputable educational bodies. Our application to the Association of International School Educators of Nigeria should be ready by the end of the school year; and that for the Council of British International Schools should be by the end of the 2017/2018 academic session
How are you giving back to society?
We have been getting involved with our community and actually helped refurbish the playground and preschool class of the Motherless and Abandoned Babies School in Makoko. We are going to continue with mentoring the teachers there so they can deliver good quality teaching. This is our service to the community.
So we are essentially adopting the school, in doing so. These children are regular children like ours who may not have the same opportunities like ours do. Bunmi Egbeyemi, director of TLS recently received the Humanitarian Award from the Nigerian Red Cross Society.
What is the road ahead?
Looking into the near future, there are some immediate plans in place to start a Saturday activity programme at the school. So TLS would not just be a place to come to during the week, I see that some children do not want to leave when school closes.
We need to equip the larger library in the new building with more books.
We also want to start competing in MUSON against other schools. This has already been done in the past, but we need more participation. Back in the day, I, myself took some courses and exams at MUSON, and it is still the most highly recognised body in this field in Nigeria.
STEPHEN ONYEKWELU