Securing our schools now our priority —Unity Schools’ principals

PRINCIPALS of Federal Government Colleges, Southwest zone, say they are putting machinery in place to effectively secure their institutions in the face of security threats across the country.

The chairperson of the zone, Dr Agnes Owolabi, disclosed this during the statutory meeting of principals of unity schools in the Southwest held last week at the Federal Government College, Ijanikin, Lagos.

A total of 18 principals from the zone participated in the quarterly and rotational meeting.

Owolabi, who is also the principal of the Federal Government Girls’ College, Sagamu, emphasised that effectively securing the schools and keeping both the students and members of staff safe from external aggression was a key priority at the moment.

Though she did not provide details of the measures being put in place, Owolabi said: “We want to ensure that every principal is always on top of security issues in their respective schools as our children must feel safe studying if the country’s quest for accelerated growth and national development is to be realized.”

Speaking on a sideline of the event, the host principal, Dr Olufunmilayo Essien, said inasmuch as she acknowledged the efforts of the Federal Ministry of Education in improving infrastructure in unity schools, her college had some challenges, including leaking roofs, inadequate staff in some key subjects, poor drainage system, erratic power supply and exorbitant electricity bills, as well as inadequate number of security personnel, among others.

She noted that the development had posed a threat to effective teaching and learning by the teachers and the students respectively.

She, however, commended the Old Students Association and the parents’ forum of the colleges, saying their contributions to the overall development of the institution were inestimable.

She listed re-roofing of the college’s Chemistry and Physics laboratories, donation of two 350 KVA generators, and provision of a buffer clinic, as some of their intervention projects.