South East breaking News
By Steve Unegbu
The Proprietress of High Breed International Academy, an Umuahia -based International school ,who is also the President and Coordinator of Singles and Married International Fellowship Outreach,Pastor Mrs Chioma Emma Ibezim ,has lamented the high level of decadence going on in Nigeria educational system ,urging parents not to be in a hurry by allowing their children to jump from one class to the other ,disregarding the 6:3:3:4 system of education in Nigeria, revealing that rushing to a high class or teaching lower classes with books meant for higher classes help to destroy the academic foundation of a child .
Speaking during the school graduation ceremony held at the High Breed International Academy premises Umuahia ,She queried ,” why the rush ,why are we trying to change the 6:3:3:4 system ,because we are in a hurry ,is either the children cram the questions or the answers and they vomit them and get A and when they mix up with those who are really going to school,they will not find their ground, so I think it is wrong ,let the child not cram ,but let a child think ,it will help him to express himself “
Being a major academic stakeholder by training, she insisted that ” A child needs a solid foundation, you know if a solid foundation is carrying a building ,the building will never go down ,but when we are in a hurry and push them ,using books meant for primary four for primary three and primary four using primary five books ,it will destroy their foundation and when their foundation is destroyed ,they are going to struggle and I advocate that there should be healthy competition among the children, they should compete for marks ,it will help them “
She maintained that ,” the secondary school is not the foundation, the nursery and primary school is the foundation and now when we now want to water it and do it in a hurry ,we will produce nonsense to the society ” she said .
Dr Ibezim ,called on ministry of education to be serious and wake up to their responsibilities ,advising them against contracting the category of staff or invigilators , she described as ” stomach-based invigilators or teachers and people who do not mind their work .The ministry of education should put their eyes on ground and avoid making school inspection expensive, during examinations invigilators should come in and know what the proprietors are doing in their schools , so many things are going wrong ” she noted .
She advised government to release funds to both private and public schools to assist them in procurement of equipments for teaching and to pay teachers their salaries to motivate them put in their best.
Speaking on challenges of coping as a pastor ,teacher and house wife at the same time , ” she noted that ,” it is highly challenging .It is a lot of work and I thank God for an understanding husband .It is not easy .It is tough ,but God has been helping me .I did not make up my mind to run a school ,the speaking engagement alone with the ministry was becoming very overwhelming but when I was doing my PhD in Guidance and counseling ,the Lord told me ” , ” I want you to raise up children with high moral standard and high academics and my children have gone through the major schools in Umuahia and I can actually tell you that I saw there is a problem.The problem was such that I did not know what I could do as an individual ,I was only dealing with people when they are already grown ups in the fellowship, I did not have a part to play in their growing up ,but God has to bring me into it ,God spoke to a total strange who came and singlehandedly paid for this place ,which is running into millions ,singlehandedly equipped the school for us “
She pointed out that ” I teach the children manners ,how to talk and how to respect their parents, those things we look down on ,as if they are not important” adding that when the foundation of a child is faulty ,there is actually nothing anybody can do ,and a child needs moral ,because the academics of a child is going to stand on the moral ,if you loose moral ,you have lost it ,because intelligence can get you to top ,but you need morals to stay there ” she revealed.