Mr Obe, Director of Platform Schools has warned parents and caregivers alike to thoroughly assess school environments in all areas before enrolling their wards.
He spoke about some of the vices in some of these poor schools, from the point of meals, with some giving their pupils poor meals such as garri.
“Another area to asses is their academic performance”, He said. He continued “Some pupils’ academic performance drops sharply because there is no adequate monitoring. Another vice is moral decadence. Some pupils tend to learn bad character from other pupils because of the contact they’ve had with the poorly trained children from home. Before you know it, they are already exhibiting what they were not taught at home”.
Another one is malnutrition. Many people have the notion that when they’re going to hostels, they’re going to suffer. Another vice is bullying. It’s rampant in hostels; the issue of seniors beating the juniors.
In his advice to parents, He said “there should be security in terms of feeding; security in terms of lives and property. They should also look at supervision in terms of hygiene; how they are monitored. Are the boys having access to the girls’ hostels? If they have access to each other anything can happen. Are they well separated to ensure that they do not have access to each other? What’s the quality of the meal? Another thing is work-life balance. You also need to watch out for the social life in the school. Health is also important.”
He also urged parents should evaluate the resources that schools have to care for the children right away. These key factors to consider: their academic performance, moral character, and overall health and hygiene, He believed should be checked before enrolling a child in any boarding school.
Source: The Punch