Nigerian students do well abroad because of WAEC – Principal

Graham Meredith, the principal of Premier Academy Lugbe, in this interview speaks on the relationship between the school and its host community.
 
In terms of curriculum, do you think the students you have been teaching over time will be competitive at global level in mathematics and other subjects?
Nigerian students who travel to the US, Canada, England always do well because WAEC is such a difficult examination, and also in Nigeria you have six years of secondary education. Most of the European countries and UK spend five years, so the extra year benefits the students greatly and they do well over there; it’s not just because they are smart but because the WAEC curriculum is effective.
Nigerians all over the world, wherever they go, learn a language within the community and settle there, so Nigerian kids here are prepared very well to go to overseas universities.
 
As a high achieving school, what is your relationship with your host community like?
Our relationship has been great, here in Lugbe, and we have given back to the community in so many ways; we built a bridge that linked two isolated communities. We did that because it was the right thing to do and because it links us to our football stadium.
We assist government schools who may be limited by funds in one way or the other. In FHA Lugbe Junior secondary school, we equipped all their senior classrooms with white boards and pens and in LEA primary school, we provided white boards and markers, benches and chairs, and also fitted their library with books. We altruistically want to help our local community.
Because of some of the contributions we have made to Lugbe community, the street is being named after us; it’s called Premiere Academy Street. That has been notified by the FHA and the FCT.  We have been a major contributory force to the development of Lugbe and we are proud to be at the centre of it. We are part of the development that is making Lugbe a better place for people to live in.  
 
Now that emphasis is on entrepreneurship skill in schools curriculum, what do you have on ground to support this course?
In Premiere, we have an entrepreneur club and our own car shampoo and miracle cream. The kids don’t just dabble, they manufacture the products, they create them, and they sell them. We teach these skills so that our students will become entrepreneurs.  Nigeria is a country of entrepreneurs and we are encouraging that too here.
 
With the exorbitant fees charged by private schools, how do you make sure your focus does not shift from making students acquire the needed knowledge to profit making?
Managing respect is the key facet here just because they come from a fortunate background where the parents could afford the fees, but still, they’ve got to achieve success and they’ve got to do well in their academics. The world is unequal, sure if you can afford to pay for good education it is going to help you more, but there are children who do achieve with limited fund.
Schools like us are not cash cows who are there to make millions; we operate within the budget of the school fees but we aim to produce quality education, we employ the best teachers, the best support staff, and employ the best management and also give our students here a step up in life.