At the commencement of every academic year parents and guardians are saddled with the enormous responsibility of deciding what kind of education they want for their children or wards and where to obtain such education. The decision about what kind of education a child receives is worth giving some serious thought.
With this objective in mind most expatriates in Nigeria and a growing number of upward socially mobile Nigerians send their children to private international schools. State-sponsored schools are a far cry from satisfying global best practices, and are plagued by staff shortages, lack of books and materials, and a deficiency in learning tools and facilities.
An international school is a school that promotes international education, in an international environment, either by adopting a curriculum such as that of the International Baccalaureate, Edexcel or Cambridge International Examinations, or by following a national curriculum different from that of the school’s country of residence.
“I cannot imagine sending my children to any local school. My children attend Loyola Jesuit College and the difference it makes in their psycho-social development is enormous” contended Ebele Obiadazie, a building engineer.
One of the complaints about international schools such as: Lekki British School, British International School, American International School and the Netherlands International School (all in Lagos) among others is that they are outrageously expensive. However, the best educational experiences are invaluable and fall outside the box of pecuniary calculus.
Parents should be fully aware that such a posh education amid a sea of sub-standard state options certainly comes at a price. On top of ‘high’ basic fees, other expenses could include school uniforms, text books, co-curricular activities and transport. It is vital that expatriates moving to Nigeria with children stipulate subsidies and allowances for education in addition to their contracted salary.
Compared to global school fees averages among international schools, those in Nigeria quote a fair premium price for what they offer. In Ghana, the national average per annum (2015/16) for private schools was N2.8 million ($9, 582), N2.5 million ($8,522) for elementary schools and ($12,953) N3.8 million for high schools. In Nigeria the range is between N2 million – N3.1 million for boarding students and N1.2 – N1.9million for day students.
Oludotun Sotunde, head quality assurance at Chrisland Schools Ltd., an international school in a passionate conversation with BusinessDay said the difference it makes between attending an international school or a local one is similar to the difference between day and night. “International schools consciously facilitate the development of their pupils and students into confident outstanding individuals. The quality and quantity of personnel needed to achieve this alongside the quality of facilities require substantial funds” he said.
Sotunde, graphically pointed out that at Chrisland for instance, every child gets attention tailored to meet their unique needs. There are laboratories for every subject that requires immediate practical application. “We have a maths clinic to help children overcome their maths phobia and develop analytical reasoning skills. There are facilities we dispose of that you will never find in most local schools. International schools employ the best hands and assure international standard is established and maintained” he commented.
Recently the Lagos Preparatory School, Ikoyi has been inspected by the Independent School’s Inspectorate (ISI); the most prestigious, rigorous United Kingdom (UK) inspection team for inspecting British School’s overseas.
“The overall quality of the pupils’ achievement is good, successfully meeting the school’s aims to achieve high academic standards and to prepare pupils for transfer to UK boarding schools” ISI 2016 report wrote of the school.
Foreign nationals may initially be surprised at just how many international school options there are in Nigeria’s major urban centres, namely the capital city of Abuja and the commercial capital of Lagos. As expected, rural areas are unable to support the same type of provision; expatriate parents living far from a large city will need to consider homeschooling, or sending their child to a boarding school.
STEPHEN ONYEKWELU
