Association seeks interventions for school owners, teachers, others

Association seeks interventions for school owners, teachers, others

Interventions
By Joan Odafe
Lagos, June 28, 2024 (NAN) A group, under the aegis of Platform of Educators and Private School Owners (PEPSO), has called for concerted efforts in bridging gaps to help educational professionals achieve their goals and visions.

PEPSO National President, Dr Comfort Otegbeye, spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of an event organised by the group on Friday in Lagos.

The event, with theme,  ‘Strategic Meeting and Stakeholders Engagement’, was organised to emphasise the needs of members and proffer solutions.

Otegbeye said that school owners and teachers bore a lot of challenges that needed to be addressed.

Otegbeye, also the Proprietress of El-Bethel Schools, said that PEPSO was determined to address these challenges through engagements with relevant stakeholders, including agencies and the association’s members.

She said PEPSO had diverse mix of members, categorised into school owners, teachers, professional tutors, consultants and corporate, that would help meet their needs.

“Aside from the camaraderie, the association will also be a force for our members; we have to stand for them, fight for their cause.

“Our learners also stand to benefit because of various programmes we have for them.

“We’re going to have a boot camp for students; we’re going to have functional education, which involves vocational and creative,” she said.

Earlier, Otegbeye urged the participants to guard against factors that could lead to the association failing.

She said the factors included ineffective communication and engagement, resistance to change and innovation, lack of diversity and inclusivity and failure to deliver value to members.

Also, Mr Mufutau Lawal, President, PEPSO, Lagos, said the association would intervene in most of the challenges school stakeholders experience through positive engagements .

He said private schools in the state were plagued with many challenges including too many regulators, multiple taxations and various levies introduced that bear on their operations.

Lawal, who is also the Proprietor, Tendertouch Intellectuals Schools, said the association had already initiated engagement with relevant agencies that would help ameliorate the challenges of school owners.

“We’re trying to see how technology can be deployed to schools, in terms of training teachers on the use of modern technology to aid in teaching.

“We’re setting up a centre among our schools, in each of the local government areas, where they’ll be facilities to be used in the training of teachers so they can implement them in their classrooms,” he said.

Speaking on multiple platforms for school owners, Mrs Ajoke Adeyemi, a member of the Board of Trustees, said proprietors were free to join as many associations as they wished.

Adeyemi, Proprietress of The Foresight International School, said PEPSO was unique because it prioritised the needs and development of other school stakeholders, particularly teachers and students.

In his remarks, Mr Muyideen Dorego, District Head, Apapa Town Planning Office, urged proprietors to ensure that their school buildings had the proper permit to avoid issues with the state government.(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

JOJO/FAA
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Edited by Folasade Adeniran