‘Government must invest more in education’

The Director and Head of Riverside Montessori School, Isheri, Ogun State, Mrs. Oladunni Adewuyi, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to invest more money in education.

She said the government should also pay special attention to the training of teachers to keep them updated with latest technology in the teaching profession.

Adewuyi spoke on Friday on the premises of the school during a public programme.

She said, “The new government should invest more money in education at all levels: primary, secondary and tertiary. But the primary level is very critical because it is the foundation. It is where the reading and writing skills of children are developed, which will help them turn out well in life. The Montessori system of education especially helps children benefit early from the use of their senses.

“It costs a lot of money to give qualitative education, and that is why the new government must show its seriousness in improving the educational sector through enormous financial commitment.

“Teachers should also be made to go through training and retraining that will help them develop; they cannot give what they don’t have.”

Adewuyi said the programme was to also encourage other professionals to have a glimpse into the 21st century teaching and learning aids of the school.

She said, “We started in 2009 with just four kids. Now we have grown to 150 children and we have been able to create a conducive teaching environment with 21st century classrooms for our pupils.

“We decided to open up all these to members of the public for people to see our facilities and be free to criticise us. It is also for school owners to come and see how we do it and learn. It’s our way of giving back to society.”

The director said though the school was young, it had the vision to be “an early premier childhood education.”

“We want to use exceptional teaching aids to make our children global citizens and innovative thinkers. We make them explore their environment,” she added.

A senior teacher in the school, Olikoye Abiodun, said the school had its challenges, but the efforts of the teaching and non-teaching staff, had helped them scale through.