New Telegraph

Bequest School sends forth students with optimism, hopes for future

Genesis

Glorious Bequest College in Ajegunle, Lagos celebrated its end of the session on July 20. Revd. Wilson Akpughe, the director and founder of the school founded Bequest school at the turn of the millennium and he said one of the main reasons for founding the school was to help contribute to the community where he found himself and to shape up young lives to become more than they saw around them. Akpughe, while explained his basic motives for finding a school, said: “I wanted to contribute to society, to the development and wellbeing of my generation and those yet to come. “I wanted a school where you don’t have to persuade the child to go to school because he already likes the school and he wants to be in the school. “I also want to produce outstanding students who will be pacesetters and I think I have done well.”

Emergence of the school

Speaking further, he said: “The school was government and West African Examination Council (WAEC) approved in 2007. “I have been graduating student since then. To be objective I think we’ve been doing well since then. “On average, I want to judge us by our products and how we are perceived in the community. “Parents’ perception, I have come to realise over the years, is that they feel that if a child is hard to handle or if a child is not doing well academically then take the child to Bequest and you will see some improvement. “They recommend us to their friends, and people around them because of that. If your immediate neighbours are satisfied with you and you know that a prophet is not honoured in his home, then it means that you are doing well,” he said.

COVID-19 challenges

There are not many challenges from the Federal Government but more from the Lagos State Government. During the COVID- 19 lockdown, the Federal Government gave some palliatives to the school and the teachers. The state government, not the policies or the government per se but the officials have been a thorn in our flesh. The cooperation from the parents has been outstanding and the growth of the school so far has been the work of the parents. The student’s performance has caused the parents to make recommendations but it has not been easy paying fees. Our fees are very low yet the parents are struggling because of the hard times. The environment is a primary factor and hard times are a secondary factor. The future belongs to God but all things being equal-they are hardly equal these days- I see a situation where my products are beginning to climb the ladder in industries and in academics.

Graduating students

15 students are graduating from higher secondary school and several other students are in the other classes. On the students, he said my students that do GCE in SS two always come out with good results, so sitting for WAEC is a formality and my products that have gone outside people hardly believe that they are from Ajegunle. I have them all over the world. The best student is Miss Adigun and she has been good since she joined nursery school. She has spent over 14 years in the school because she joined the school from scratch and because of her, her extended family have started coming to the school and they’ve all been doing well. The Adiguns in this school is about eight. He added: “I pray that my aspirations come to pass. I want a situation where children of school age will be in school, where teachers will be their role models and not touts, and where they will learn to be frank, truthful and hardworking. Where they will not think that money can be made cheaply. People are promoting yahoo and touts. “All the posters and billboards you see in Ajegunle are those of touts, with no lawyers, or doctors on the billboard. It’s a negative trend in society but it may take time, the truth will always prevail over evil. “I think posterity will bring out our children that is why we are encouraging them to face hard work to be able to defend their certificate.

Expression of interest

“This is not the first set so I’m used to letting them go. Sometimes I get emotionally attached to them but I am happy that they are making progress in life especially when their results come and they get credits in almost all the subjects they write and it’s a good result. In a year or two, they will be in university. “That is very encouraging. What makes me happy is when I see your products somewhere and they are doing so well. It makes me happy and I forget about all the stress and I’m overwhelmed. “I want to appeal to parents to give more time to their children. I know times are hard but they should train their children so that they don’t struggle to build houses and then have their children sell off the house and squander the wealth and go back to poverty and penury. We should concentrate on them so that the children can build on whatever the parents have built. If the parents make a positive impact, the parents will grow up well and make a more positive impact. The parents that don’t make that sacrifice will see the results which I don’t pray for. Contributions to society, training the parents and youth in the community on skill acquisition. Partnering with some NGOs. Doing it during the holiday in the facility.”

Parents disposition

Speaking, Mrs Adigun Iruka, was asked if she was directed to the school or you came on your own? In her reply, she said: “Actually, I was a staff member here before, and she is also my daughter. “She started here and has schooled here from then till now where she is in SS3 level, how can you rate the academics and the work that the school has done?

“They are okay, they are okay, they are taught to be morally right and correct them whenever the children go astray, and they also notify them. “They go out to hustle for the family, and the children are going astray, and we notify the parents and say this is what your child is doing, let’s join hands together and make sure that this child is impacted positively, Ma how can you compare this school to others around here, rating the schools with other schools they are okay like academically they are okay, Morally they are okay. “My name is Adigun Aliyah, I was born in 2006, may 02 (16) When did you join the school? The school shaped me very well. How can you compare yourself with other students in this environment? I’m different from other students because of my attitude and behaviour. It is very different from them. My academics are very good. How can you rate your relationship with your teachers? My relationship with them is very good because I started here from kG 1 to SS3. I have been with them for a very long time so I’m very close to them.

Student-teachers

Reacting, Praise Akpugha, said she is a teacher, who graduated from the school also? She said: “Yes, When did you graduate? 2009 What did you do after, I went to Crowford University and studied Information and Communication Technology. “Are you teaching here now? Yes, how can you explain how the school impacted you when you were still younger?” “Well, they impacted beyond academics and went down to instilling good morals in me, how to behave, how to be respectful to your elders and generally your disposition to life and how to approach life. “What do you think this school does differently now as a teacher from all the schools in this environment, well that’s what they basically are about, they go beyond just teaching academics and teaching and going down to teaching morals and how you relate with others n in general. “When you were a student here, did you think the environment played a factor in the way a teacher related with the students and now as a teacher how do you see it? “The environment would always play a factor in the sense that the children are being influenced a lot by the environment and so most of the things you see the children exhibiting are a result of what they are seeing in the environment. “So what do you have to say about the school in general, It is a very school. Like I said it goes beyond academics to make sure the students have good morals and they are well brought up and have a roundabout approach to life and their social wellbeing as well. “So, since you left the school, has the school improved? Yes!! It has improved a lot, when I was here it was still a bungalow, now it’s a two-story building, so yes it has changed over time. “That’s a lot of improvement and the number of classrooms has increased. And the number of teachers and non-teaching staff has also increased so I think there has been a lot of growth from then till now. “That’s about 15 years. Where do you see the school in five years? I see the school imbibing more technological advancements in their teaching to the children and also exposing the children to more technology. “Because the world is going in the direction of information and technology, that is what is driving the world. So I see a lot more technology.”

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