Poverty Almost Drag Me Out of School” -Golden Grace Schools Proprietor

The Golden Grace International Schools Proprietor, Mr Oluremi Olalekan Michael yesterday, described his life experience as not being a bed of roses.

Oluremi, the Proprietor of Golden Grace International Schools, Oluwo, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, in a swift encounter with the “Newsextra publisher Obadimu Adeyemi Veron, said he was bullied, lost his self confidence and almost dropped out of school due to the fact that his parents were poor.

Oluremi stated this at his residence in Abeokuta, where he explained the love and care both his  teachers and Principal showered on him then. They always  treated him well  because of  his character. Infact their care for him deepened when he found and  returned the salary of all the teachers which was lost in the bush.

According to him “After my secondary education I was deprived of  university education.  This was due to the fact that my parents could  not sponsor my education beyond the Secondary school certificate level.

Infact, graduating from the Secondary School was a herculean task . However, due to my  interest in schooling ,  I had to engage in menial jobs when my parents could no longer support me.  At a time, I worked as a bus conductor. Other times,  I sold pure water by the road side just so I could complete my  secondary education. Oluremi explained.

” I passed through hell before I could complete  my secondary Education. I started with Ansur-ur-deen grammar school moved to  Pioneer high school and later finished at  Ojodu grammar school in Ikeja Lagos”.

” After leaving Secondary School, I learned fashion designing . Later , I veered into  survey. lt was the proceeds of my Survey work that I used in furthering my education. I gained admission to Olabisi Onabanjo  University (OOU) . There I bagged my Bsc in Public Administration”, said Oluremi.

Long before now, I had a vision of setting up my own standard private School. This I had conceived so, I could contribute my own quota to the development of quality education in Nigeria.  Talking on the standard of his school,  he said, Golden Grace is a school of  international repute. The schools boast of qualified teachers who  know their onions and train their students to be able to boast of academic excellence against the backdrop of Godly principles.  He went further to say,  “I have  Phd and Masters Degree holders on my team.

The school in its bid to give back to the society, awards various degrees of  scholarships  to less privileged and deserving  students yearly. Both at the primary and secondary school.

According to Mr Oluremi, private school owners face different types of challenges. Challenges posed by Government’s inability to provide basic infrastructures. Particularly in the area of power supply. Also, the fact that the economy of the country is on a downward trend and this has affected prompt payment of fees.

In spite of all these, the schools have remained committed to providing quality education to the  students.

 He further stressed the success story of the school, particularly on the students’ performance in West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations. The result of which has always been celebrated.

Mr Olalekan’s recommendation is that  Government should provide adequate facilities , identify owning a school as a form of social service and thus reduce to the barest minimum levies paid by private schools.

Also, regulatory ministries  should decentralise and help relieve some of the bottlenecks faced when relating with supervisory agencies.