Excel College: JSS3, SSS3 résume tomorrow, others Oct 19
By Abolaji Adebayo
Final year junior and senior students of troubled Excel College will resume tomorrow Tuesday as the management begins building temporary classes to accomodate 492 students expected to resume on Monday, October 19, this year.
To ease ongoing examinations of science subjects, the school has struck a deal with neighbouring Ronik College to share laboratory facilities while other papers will be taken at a building formerly used for boarding if the National Examinations Council approve.
The management announced these measures last Saturday at a meeting with parents on its building that collapsed Saturday September 19, this year.
To replace the collapsed structure, the school is waiting for the results of on-going investigations by the Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planing whose officials have taken away samples that may explain why the building fell.
The measures were backed by the parents, who in a sympathetic show of solidarity resolved to tax themselves to support the management’s revival plan.
The director, Dr.Dele Oke told Echonews the measures were taken to avoid putting parents through the ordeal of searching for new schools for wards midway into the school year and throwing 77 teaching and administrative staff into the pool of jobless citizens.
He said teaching and learning would be done online following the school curricula with well prepared time tables during the three-week period.
He said: “I thank the staff and all parents. The first day it happened I cried, when the commissioner spoke to us again I cried. We are pleading for a little bit of patience and in three weeks time by God’s grace, we should have all the children back to school.
“Another thing I want to promise is that our temporary structure will present a better learning experience and the students will be able to sit well. Our founder already said that we are going to be using audiovisuals full time and as God will have it, last year we completed our computer acquisition skill for all our teachers, so all teachers in the school have laptops.
“All teachers are also told that after each class, all students notes should be dropped at the school portal and any student that does not complete his or her note will be known through the portal. We are also trying to get more buses for transport.”
On how soon the reconstruction of the school would be, Oke said they were working on it, stating that the school is ready to partner with the government and private organisation to raise the funds to rebuild the school.
Debunking the allegations of a few ex-students that the building had been shaking for a long time, the proprietress,Mrs.K.Oke explained that holopot was used in constructing each floor adding that the foundation and all materials used in building the school were certified by the government.
Narrating her experience, Mrs. Oke who retired from the Lagos State Civil Service 25 years ago, said: “It was not expected. We were all in school on Wednesday because we come to school every day to plan for the resumption of the students. We had a meeting in the school on Thursday. It was on Friday we noticed cracks on the wall. Then, the Director sent a message to the parents immediately that the resumption would be rescheduled due to the crack noticed on the wall because the parents were to initially bring their children to school on Sunday to resume on Monday last week.
“We invited building engineers immediately that Friday, they came and promised to come back on Saturday to assess what could have caused the crack. The Director also called another structural engineer who also promised to come on the same Saturday. The three people who came on Saturday entered but were directed by divine sprit to come out of the building. It was not later than five minutes after they came out that the building collapsed. So, God was really on our side to have saved every soul who might have been inside the building.
“That building was supposed to be for commercial activities but through prayer, I was directed to use it for school and that was why we converted it to school so, the foundation and the structure were solid.
“When the incident happened, the Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Idris Salako came here and took sample of the wall for test. They have also carried out integrity test on the other buildings used for the boarders as the governor ordered that every 3-storey building in this community be subjected to integrity test. I really appreciate the community, the parents and all others who stood by us. We shall come back better by His grace.”
Speaking on the association’s effort to get the school back, the PTA chairman, Mr. Ndubuisi Udeagu said they have been planning and working along with the management, giving them moral and logistic support.
Based on the good standards and quality education provided by the school as testified to by some parents, Udeagu urged the parents not to lose focus, appealing to them to retain their children in the school.
“What we have is a collapsed building, the knowledge, quality and standard of education in Excel College has not collapsed rather, the school is bringing new ideas and innovation to teaching,” he sai
