Principal of the Federal College of Education, Technical (FCE,T), Akoka Secondary School, Lagos, Mrs Khadijat Abdul-Salam has called on parents to renew their commitments to proper upbringing of children amidst the various societal, economic distractions and challenges.
Mrs Abdul-Salam made the call on the sidelines of the 2023/2024 speech amd prize giving day activities for students of the school.
At the event attended by the Acting Provost of the College who also doubles as Chairman of the Secondary School Board, Dr. Isaac Oluwatoyin Miller, the Principal lamented the dwindling enthusiasm and dedication of students to achieve success and charged parents to complement the roles and responsibilities of the school by rededicating their time in support of thier wards.
Mrs Abdul-Salam who lamented the declining interest of students in learning blamed it on early access and exposure to social media at the instance of parents, saying many young boys and girls are getting too distant from learning.
“The society also has not been of positive assistance because the reward system and practice for academic excellence no longer encourage learning.
“So much rewards and attention are accorded footballers and musicians while children that excell in academic learning are not given equal rewards to encourage the upcoming ones whose interest in learning is waning.”
However, the Principal said despite these challenges the committment of the school management and teachers are yielding results, saying the performance in external examination are encouraging.
“To the glory of God at the FCE,T Secondary School, a good number of the 89 students that WASSCE had A1 in core subjects. Despite the showing they can still do better. Rather than think creatively many have resorted to solution sites to provide answers to questions”.
Earlier, the Ag. Provost and Chairman of Board, Dr Miller congratulated the graduating students and their parents and urged them to be good ambassadors of the school as the go into the larger society.
The guest speaker at the event, Professor Aderonke Lawal-Are, of the Department of Marine and Fisheries, Faculty of Science, University of Lagos (UNILAG) called on parents to take good and adequate care of children from cradle and guide them as they grow to become useful adults later in life.
“Children must be developed intellectually, emotionally, monitor their social development, monitor what they are exposed to, direct and indirect learning, support the children to be independent and not completely dependent, teach them to manage emergencies, set mandates for them and profess love to them and he available, ” she added.
Regrettably, Prof Lawal-Are lamented that the quest for material gains and mundane pursuit has made parents abandoned their wards to take lessons from outsiders and social media.
The highlight of the event was the presentation of prizes to deserving outgoing students of the school.
Miss Adekoya Janet won the PTA prize for Best Student.
Adekoya scored 86.5 in Mathematics , English Language 81, Chemistry 82, Physics 84.6, Geography 82,Civic 91.3, Biology 83.3, Economics 88 and Agriculture 95.3.
