Lagos Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and the British Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos, Johnny Baxter have expressed excitement over the establishment of Charterhouse, one of the high-profile British independent educational institutions, in Lagos, Nigeria.
They both gave the impression at the official launch of the school and news conference in Lagos, on Tuesday.
Speaking separately, the governor, who was represented at the event by the Secretary to the State Government, Mrs Abimbola Salu-Hundeyin, said the establishment of Charterhouse Lagos and as the first in Africa, would certainly broaden the horizon of school children in the state and Nigeria by extension and expose them to new curricula and globally acceptable skills that would position them to compete favourably on the world stage.
He explained that “Charterhouse serves as a prime example of the power of public-private partnerships being passionate about by the Lagos State Government and it will greatly help in enhancing the quality of education in our State.
“And that is why we are indeed very proud that Charterhouse groundbreaking in Africa, is Lagos.
“This to us, is an acknowledgement by the international community of our strident efforts in the area of education and human capacity development.”
In his own remark, the British Deputy High Commissioner, Johnny Baxter, said he strongly believes that “Charterhouse’s goal is to be global in outlook and local in focus, by blending the best of contemporary educational thinking with the finest traditions in British independent schooling.
“So, Charterhouse Lagos is bringing not just the brand but the same standard of education you will get from a British school in the UK immersed in the Nigerian culture thereby giving its students the best of British education in a multicultural environment.”
He pointed out that aside from supporting educational development in Nigeria, Charterhouse will also create employment opportunities and generate income for many families, communities, and Nigeria as a whole.
In his welcome address earlier, the Director of Education and Founding Head of Charterhouse Lagos, Mr John Todd, said Charterhouse Lagos with boarding facilities for boys and girls and located in Lekki axis of the former capital city of Nigeria, would provide complete knowledge and skills in academic and co-curricular activities that would make its products stand out among peers globally.
According to him, Nigeria and Lagos deserve a world-class school and Charterhouse Lagos is set to bring that dream to fruition for so many families.
Todd, however, explained that the school campus construction project is still ongoing and would gulp up to $150 million (about N119 billion) on completion and with the- state-of -state-of-the-art facilities, would open to students in three phases.
According to him, the first set of students in nursery and primary school will commence learning from September 2024 while the middle and senior school will open in 2026 and 2028, respectively.
“The campus would be in full operations by 2028,” he added.
Todd, who disclosed that he had once lived, worked and had two of his children in Lagos, noted that the Charterhouse Lagos would certainly equip Nigerian children and other nationals, particularly from other African countries, who will be coming for learning, the requisite knowledge and skills that would make them not only market-ready but also fit-for-purpose leaders in future.
He said while admission into the Nursery and primary section is ongoing, the plan is to open Charterhouse School in Abuja in near future.
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