READING HABIT EVERY BOOK YOU READ AFFECTS YOUR GRANDCHILDREN, SO READ AND CULTIVATE YOURSELF FOR POSTERITY

Ignorance and poverty can be generational and transferable. Despite that we live in an age of information explosion with libraries, teaching videos, television and radio bombarding us on every side with opportunities to stretch our horizons and increase our knowledge, many still fall victims of ignorance due to lack of information and application of knowledge. Down to what some are doing on a daily basis they are too lazy to seek for facts that will take them to greatness in their endeavour through reading, forgetting that what they do today will have impact on the generation that will come through them.

You can’t give what you don’t have. Lack of awareness or quality information about our profession is not only an epidemic to oneself but to society at large.

Be an agent of change; we must make this world a better place than we met it. That can only be done by constantly equipping ourselves through reading. Between 2013 and 2014 alone I have read over thirty books and that didn’t stop me from doing my work and other domestic activities. Through this, I was transformed remarkably beyond my own expectation with loads of information which I will confidently pass on to my children, which will help them form their own decisions. Also, I attended seminars on stocks, real estate, forex trading and entrepreneurship. I did all these purposely because I wanted to change the situation around me, but I needed to change myself first and I did that by seeking information through books and people. Furthermore, I am still eager for more books to read, seminars to attend and people to meet so that I can discover more.

It makes no sense if we can’t improve ourselves in all aspects of life: education, business and attitude, more than our parents did so that our children will be better off. Ignorance will mess up the next generation because God rejects both those who reject knowledge and their children. The decisions parents make on behalf of their children will continue to aid or mar their existence; therefore, parents of nowadays must not fail their children in providing the right information. Otherwise, they will be fed wrongly by dubious persons who peddle deceptive information.

Recommended Book

Maximizing Your Potential

by Dr. Myles Munroe.

Edu-Focus: Stand out!

We all agree to the fact that everybody desires to succeed in their studies and in life as a whole in an outstanding way. Relating this to your day to day living, have you now taken time to ask what exactly does it really take to stand out? Well on this edition of Edu-focus, we will be examining key factors that will help you stand out.

Are you a student desirous to stand out?

It is believed that; ‘The day we stop learning is the day we start dying.’ In our society today anyone who is open to learning irrespective of age, academic qualification, religious affiliation or even professional qualification is referred to as a student. So what distinguishes a student? What makes the student stand out from the rest of the class? The five A’s: attitude, academic skills, abilities, awareness, and accomplishment, certainly are a large part of it, and a student who has them will be very likely to earn A’s:

• Attitude is primarily a genuine desire to learn, and the willingness to do hard intellectual work to achieve understanding. It is also shown by how well you apply yourself even to subjects for which you have little interest, and how much you can achieve even when a teacher's style isn't to your liking.
• Academic skills include ability to read with comprehension, intelligent use of resources (including library and internet resources), logical and mathematical skills, efficient study habits, and the ability to communicate clearly and fluently in speaking and writing.
• Awareness of what's going on in the world around you, and the habit of intelligently relating it to your academic courses. For example, when taking a course in Political Science, you should relate what you are learning in class to what is happening on the national and world political scene. When taking a science course, you should relate scientific principles to phenomena you observe in everyday life, and go out of your way to find applications and examples of science in the real world.
• Accomplishment is demonstrated by successful application of understanding. The evidence of that includes

1.        correct and confident application of what you've learned to new problems and challenges,

2.        clear and effective communication of your understanding through speaking and writing, and

3.        possession of an information base, skills and understanding sufficient to allow you to continue your education outside of the classroom, throughout your life.

All of these add up to a fifth

·         A: Ability, a word frequently used above. The goal of education is to achieve the ability to apply one's knowledge in new, creative and correct ways. Abilities are not entirely innate; some are achievable through dedicated and focused effort.

Other features or qualities of an exceptional student include:

1.        Self-discipline. The successful student has learned to allocate time and use it judiciously, and will do the things that need to be done, when they must be done, whether or not he/she feels like it at the time.

2.        Initiative. In short, it means doing things without being told. The student doesn't wait for assignments to read ahead, or to seek out and study related books to gain understanding. The good student solves more problems or exercises than assigned, and does them even when none are assigned. The good student working in the laboratory does not merely follow instructions (though that is an important skill) but looks for opportunities to discover new things, try new things, and find better methods. When an opportunity arises to do a project outside of class, the good student jumps at the chance and doesn't even ask whether it will earn extra credit.

3.        Breadth of interests. College provides a great opportunity to broaden your interests and explore new things. You may never again have available to you a convenient and comprehensive library, well-equipped laboratories, and diverse academic activities. Much education can occur outside the class, if you seek it. But if you confine yourself to the things you've always done, avoiding anything new and unfamiliar, you will have squandered a valuable opportunity.

4.        An open mind is a mind receptive to examination of new ideas and facts. Having an open mind does not mean that one jumps on the bandwagon of every new fad. A better characterization of an open mind is one that is willing to dispassionately and rationally analyze new ideas, weighing them objectively against established knowledge and the facts at hand.

5.        A critical habit of mind. Education is more than the acquisition of information. It includes the ability to acquire new information, to critically evaluate that information, and to correctly and effectively use it. With so many information sources at our disposal in this computer age we are awash in information, and in danger of information overload. But much of that information is fraudulent, worthless, incomplete, or just plain wrong. It has always been so. Probably 90% of the books in any library could be lost with no harm to human knowledge. But it's not always easy to determine just which books are worth keeping. We are assaulted through every medium by folks trying to sell us something (with impressive claims of its value), to persuade us to accept some political or social idea, to convert us to some religion or philosophy, or to convince us of the value of some medical panacea. Most of this is humbug. One of the values of a good education is the ability to see through false claims, unfounded assertions and outright deceptions. By this criterion, education has largely been a failure, for many people who have college degrees are still suckers for snake-oil and perpetual-motion-machine peddlers.

6.        Perceptiveness. The more you learn, the more perceptive you become. You can, as necessary, "read between the lines." You no longer need everything spelled out; you can fill in missing details. You aren't dependent on being shown; you can puzzle things out for yourself. You perceive quickly what a writer or speaker means, without misinterpreting. You learn to seek the intended meaning of what you read or hear rather than trying to impose your own preconceived meaning. You can see through complexity to the heart of a matter. You are able to distinguish the important from the trivial in a serious discussion.

7.        Objectivity. Most of us begin our education with an "egocentric" view, expecting everything to have some relevance to our needs or desires. We even impose such interpretations on things we learn, and avoid learning some things because they don't seem important at the time. Education can broaden that view, encouraging us to set our egos aside and objectively evaluate facts and interpretations. We find out that mere unsupported personal opinions have no value in an academic discussion. We learn to recognize the validity of facts and ideas that we may not like. We learn that other people and other cultures may interpret things differently, and that fact is not a-priori evidence that they are wrong. We learn that the world does not revolve around us, and the universe cares not at all whether we exist, or what we do. Education can give us humility.

8.        Humility. However much we learn, we must realize there's a lot more to be learned, and that some of what one `knows' may turn out to be wrong. For this reason intellectual arrogance is unbecoming of an educated person. Knowing lots of things is good, but knowing the limitations of one's knowledge is essential to using it properly. Many of the classic errors of history were made by people over-confidently going beyond what they knew and understood.

Leaving you with the advice, -work to be educated, not merely trained.

Edulight Magazine: Parents' Opinion Sept-Oct., 2014 Edition

Question: What is the thing you look out for before enrolling your child/ward into any school?

1.       Mr. Akpan Sunday Okon (Resides at Ketu): Well, one thing I look out for is the quality of teachers and the teaching technique of the school.

2.       Mr. Micah Arocha (A.k.a. MC Ice Waterof Eko FM and Traffic Radio Station) Resides in Ogudu, Berger: One thing I look out for before enrolling my child to any school is the impact assessment. Not necessarily the building so to speak.

3.       Mr. Ojo Oluwadare O. (Lawanson, Surulere, Lagos): I look out for good structure in all sense, because good structure comprises of building and teacher.

4.       Mrs. Florence Agofue (Aguda, Surulere, Lagos): Actually, I will look at the school structure, the teachers on ground and the schools past record before enrolling my child/ward to ant school.

5.       Mrs. Adaeze Uche (Jibowu, Yaba): One major thing I look out before enrolling my child to any school is the environment and it has to be spacious for kids to play around.

6.       Mr. Michael Uche N. (Iyana Ipaja, Lagos): I personally will pay attention to every aspect of the school but particularly the Staff or personnel employed by the school before I enroll my child.

One on One interview with Mrs. Oladipo Proprietress, TOMVIC Group of Schools, Ilasa, Lagos.

One on One interview with Mrs. Oladipo Proprietress, TOMVIC Group of Schools, Ilasa, Lagos. Parents also have a lot to do. They should stop relying on ‘mercenaries’ to help their children/ward carryout exam malpractice so they can pass at all cost….. Well, I would still firmly say let the children use their hands to write their future, and if they fail the first time then they will do better on next try.- Mrs. Oladipo Funmilayo

As the founder of TOMVIC private school, would you want to tell us how long your school has been in existence?

Well, our school started 26 years ago.

As the Zonal Leader would say that NAPPS as a body has fully represented the interest of her members?

For Ilasa here we have been working together and there hasn’t been any form of misrepresentation. For instance just recently I was instructed to represent the chairperson of our chapter in a meeting and reported to her to brief her about the outcome of the meeting. I also ensure that information goes round to all the members here in Ilasa as we speak just before you came in I was composing a text message to be sent to all member schools here. In addition I’ve had about eight people call me today (27/8/14) on the issue of resumption date but I told them to calm down and promised to update them on the recent development. So we’ve been working together.

Of course for a body or institution certain challenges and that includes NAPPS, as the Zonal Leader what are some of the key challenges you are faced with?

One of the challenges we are facing here is that not all the members do not attend the meeting despite all our efforts to make them the benefits. Again, the problem of inferiority complex by some schools, some of them believe it is only schools that have been approved by the government are qualified to join the association. However, we have been educating them a lot on that area. For instance, I joined NAPPS before I got my approval from the government and I have been benefiting tremendously. In that light, some people decide to join the body that is not recognized by the government, so they can share the same idea.  And these have been problems we are facing. Surprisingly, those that have refused to join still get information from us because they believe NAPPS is a strong body.

What are the requirements to become a NAPPS member?

Well, all they have to do is to pick up a form at a cost of N1, 000 fill and submit to the appropriate channel. In addition, there is a monthly due to be paid by all members, children’s day celebration and NAPPS day, although we don’t pay much here in our chapter.

You seem to be holding back the amount paid as monthly due and other activities charges?

The total money to be paid annually is not much and it differs chapter by chapter. It is also determined by the chairperson like our current chairperson here encourages all to pay their dues once which had not been happening before. You also pay up at the Zonal level because that is what we use to organize activities at the zonal and chapter level as well.

Despite the increasing number of schools, some still believe the standard of education has fallen. Do you agree with this?

I agree with that because as more schools are coming up the standard tend to be dropping. Yes! We need more schools but the standard is questionable. What I’m charging here as school fees cannot be charged if it were a new school because my school has been existing for over two decades now. We will not compromise standard by employing unqualified staffs. In some new, they employ First School Leaving Certificate (FSLC) holders as teachers. And of course you know the impact on the kids? Therefore, you can’t compare the unqualified teachers with the NCE holders fro instance. What parents look out for is the money. Here for instance they pay more than in some other schools they pay less. It is about the quality of education the children are receiving.

You would agree, fingers are not equal, some parents are financially buoyant than others which will make them to pay whatever amount for the children/ward’s education, while others will look for alternatives where they can pay less and still get educated. What is NAPPS doing as a body especially within your zone to carter for this category of income earners?

Yes! NAPPS do consider these ones. But you know environment differs. What we are charging here at upper Mushin is different from what is charged in Ilupeju for instance same goes to schools in Itire but they are all inside Mushin. So we do consider low income earners.

Invariable, you mean no matter where the school is located, it can still maintain standard and provide affordable education?

Yes! School owners should improve on their standard. And stop the encouragement of terrible physical structure(School Buildings) and even personnel (Teachers).

Government has come to the reality that private schools have come to stay alongside public schools but what do you think government can do to help private school owners?

Government needs to do a lot for the private schools. One is the area of continuous and intense supervision. As this will help keep school owners on their toes, since inspecting is not taken seriously the way it should it should that is why many sub standard schools are springing up. Without improper inspection the schools will keep doing as they like. Government should not only train public school teachers but should carry private schools along, since we are all carter for all the children of the same nation. Private schools mustn’t be excluded when aids is given from abroad, we (private school owners) should be encouraged. Now! Look at our staff force can government employ them all. At lease we’ve helped to reduce the unemployment rate. For instance look at the EKO Project. It is only the private schools that are enjoying it which is not supposed to be so.

Can NAPPS come up with a similar initiative?

NAPPS has been doing that.

Hence, you don’t need to look at government since your body is doing that?

Well, we still need the government though, we too cannot fold our arms for example: This Ebola Virus issue, NAPPS had a seminar held on (28/8/14), we have also done seminars on security matters both at the state and zonal level.

Looking at the students, what do you think specifically they can do to help themselves develop?

What they need to do is study more, the problem we are facing now is that students only rely on what they’ve been thought in classroom alone. They don’t read to find out about ahead about a subject or topic. Parents also have a lot to do. They should stop relying on ‘mercenaries’ to help their children/ward carryout exam malpractice so they can pass at all cost. It has become a common trend that now that the students re in upper class after their SS2 class you will not see them when they are supposed to join for SS3 as the school resumes. As they search for where their children/ward can go write and pass their exams at once. Parents need to allow their Children/Ward use their hands to write their future. And any teacher or school aiding exam malpractice are not helping the students at all because these kids end up joining cults in higher institution and are in desperate search for those to help them write their exams.  I have never followed any of my children to any of their exams from primary through higher institution years and would not allow any of my teachers to do that more importantly it is against my belief. Imagine a parent confessing that this school is good but when the child gets to SS3 the child is taken away to another school. Well, that is wrong and it’s not helping the children at all and a cheat on some schools as well. Well, I would still firmly say let the children use their hands to write their future, and if they fail the first time then they will do better on next try.

Nigeria is 54 years in October as an independent state, what is your final message for all our esteemed readers?

My message is that we should try more in all aspect of education. Nigerians have talents, potentials and give room for proper development everybody will do a white collar job, vocational skills must be encouraged. Finally, our youths can combine vocational skills and formal education as they will not be jobless at the end of the day.

Thank you!