The CMS Grammar School, Bariga, Lagos, is the oldest secondary grammar school in Nigeria, having been established in 1859. Therefore, the school is something of a national institution.
It is really heart-warming to hear that the school, one of the institutional and academic legacies in Nigeria, is going back to its original status of a full boarding status. The aim, according to the proponents, is to improve learning and morals.
It is a universal truism that every nation that is committed to progress and advancement strives to have a system of education that reflects the changing needs of the nation.
Such changes are usually not borne out of coercion but out of the desire by both the government and the people to evolve a system that meets their goals, aspirations as well as immediate and long-term needs.
It is also of note to say here that while the educational experience at the boarding school is important to personal and educational growth and development, it is also a precursor to life after school
It is in this light that CMS Grammar School came out with a statement that starting from September, when the new academic calendar begins for the 2022/2023 session, the school will be returning to a full-fledged boarding status.
According to information from the school’s authorities, the present arrangement of both boarding and day systems had not been helpful to the growth and evolution of the school.
We commend the idea of the new-old-practice being ushered into the school system because of the numerous benefits which accrued from it. Such benefits include the culture of accountability, responsibility, and independence which are inculcated in students.
In the past, parents often put their children in boarding schools for different reasons. For some, it is because of the reputation such schools have built for themselves by turning out disciplined and brilliant students as well as providing them with quality boarding facilities. While for others, it is not so much about reputation but proximity and affordable fees or simply because they are alumni and alumnae of such schools. Sometimes, parents also put their very young children in boarding houses because older siblings are already in the school.
Boarding school no doubt is a good place to fail and succeed, which makes it a great place to learn. In a typical boarding school, students have a controlled freedom which helps them become independent in life.
Besides, it is on record that many leaders and successful members of society passed through boarding schools as part of their grooming experiences, which helped them to become successful in their various endeavours.
Moreover, boarding schools offer other advantages such as the opportunity for students to foster intense connections with their teachers, in part due to smaller, more intimate class sizes.
The outlook of teachers at boarding schools regarding their position is not that of a job, but more of a vocation, where they become an important role model and serve as loco parentis in each of their students’ lives.
Teachers work with students, share meals and often live on campus, making it a difficult environment to duplicate anywhere else.
It is also of note to say here that while the educational experience at the boarding school is important to personal and educational growth and development, it is also a precursor to life after school.
Research has shown that boarding school students feel more prepared for college and university than their peers, and are more likely to earn more advanced degrees like a Master’s or PhD, and advance to more prominent roles in their careers and communities.
However, in recent times, reports of immoral behaviours, including bullying, resulting in the death of the victims in addition to defilement and other forms of moral degeneration in boarding schools have dominated the media, often becoming the meat of social media trends.
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Many boarding schools, which were once thought to be a safe environment for children, where they learned discipline, moral virtues, and independence have, in the light of recent gruesome events, become nests for grooming young criminals.
We have not forgotten in a hurry how life was snuffed out of a bubbling teenager in a boarding house here in Lagos recently, nor forget other ugly incidences of immoral acts noticed from such ecosystem.
Hence, we believe that CMS Grammar School management team is fully prepared to be at alert and watchful if this new idea is to be effectively and efficiently implemented with the ideal goals in mind.
There is a great need for the restoration of the virtues in boarding schools and hence, the teachers must be tasked to inculcate both knowledge and good values into their students so that they can be responsive and responsible citizens of the society.
And to achieve this herculean task, teachers and non-teaching staff of the school should be prepared to mentor and monitor the students under their care in order to be able to mould them in a particular way of life so as to be responsible citizens in future.
Nevertheless, we wish to suggest that school authority should be able to subsidise fees for students from poor families, because failure to do so would amount to establishing a system that gives room for class and dichotomy, which is not healthy for total and wholesome child upbringing.
Above all, we encourage that other top schools in the rank of CMS Grammar School should emulate this bold step and begin to put in place plans and actions that will help transform our secondary school system.
