It's no longer news that parents are ready to empty their bank accounts to send their children to the best schools because not all schools have the same influence on a child's academic capacity. Or is it a new thing? No, it isn't.
A popular school recently opened an annex along the route I use whenever I go to buy fuel. It's a nursery and primary school, and when I heard about the huge amount of money parents pay to enroll their children there, I was shocked and, at the same time, not surprised because schools of that standard usually charge high fees. Parents can't just be rushing to enroll their kids there and paying such huge amounts of money without seeing results. They must have seen a difference.
The kind of school we attend determines our academic capacity to a large extent. Not only this, schools also give us street wisdom or shield us from it.
Back in the day when I was in secondary school, we had just one public school and many private schools in the community. The private schools certainly had better facilities, but the public school had a larger population, not just because of the low school fees but also because of the competitiveness in academics and the high level of discipline. Back then, even wealthy parents who were expected to enroll their children in private schools because of their higher standards and softer disciplinary measures had their children enrolled in the public school.
The management of this public school, or let me say, the government, set very high academic standards for students to pass their examinations. This made studying a serious and personal responsibility for students because if a student failed, parents would simply conclude that the child was not serious about academics and would not bother to consider the high standards set by the school. When a student failed, they repeated the class, and there was nothing that could be done about it. This made us stand out in the community. Every student in the school was always hardworking and committed, even though it was a public school.
It was this high standard that made me improve in Mathematics because I failed WAEC several times and had to open my brain and pour Mathematics knowledge into it. Lol.
The same thing applied to discipline. Although it was a public school, which many people assumed would be less strict compared to the well caged private schools, we had very high disciplinary standards. Students who disobeyed school rules by sneaking out during school hours, fighting, arriving late, and committing other offences faced serious consequences. This discipline was not enforced by teachers alone; senior students also played a major role. Through this system, we learned to accord the same level of respect to our seniors as we gave to our teachers.
When it comes to tertiary institutions, the difference becomes even more significant. Not all universities operate at the same level. Some have academic systems that are not very different from those of secondary schools, while others have reputations that speak for themselves. This reputation often adds value to their graduates, sometimes even when those graduates are not exceptionally equipped academically.
I must admit that, till today, I feel I attended a tertiary institution that did not influence me as much as it could have. Although I gained a lot of knowledge, there are areas where I simply cannot match up with others who attended institutions in the higher category with more advanced academic and operational systems.
When I finally get settled and have children, they are going to be enrolled in the best schools possible. All schools are not the same.
Thanks for reading.
