Honour roll call is a way of encouraging academic excellence – Unique School boss

Esther Taiwo

Chief Executive of Unique Schools, Isheri-Magodo, Lagos, Mrs. Ebun Ayere-Alatise, has said that the honour roll award instituted by the school about eight years ago with the aim of promoting academic excellence among students, has encouraged healthy competition among them as it also spurs them to work harder.

“When we started eight years ago, there were only 13 scholars but today the number has increased to 34 which means students are now striving to also wear the Blue-Tie as a mark of honour and Distinction, so what this has achieved for the school is that we are raising brilliant future leaders and parents are also reaping the fruits of their labour,” she said.

Corroborating her point, Vice chairman of Unique Group of Schools governing council, Dr. Martins Agwogie, stressed the importance of celebrating children who have performed excellently in their academics as it boosts their morals.

The vice chairman said this at the honour roll award/prefects inauguration held at the school premises in Isheri Magodo, recently, adding that such scholars are distinguished from other students with their Blue ties different from the conventional red-coloured tie worn by other students.

According to him, it is a great event to celebrate students that have done excellently well in their academics and also to encourage everyone to work hard and be one of the exceptional students.

The event has a way of encouraging others because in the course of the decoration of the scholars with the blue ties, some that have never worn the blue tie are also doing so for the first time.

Over the years those that have never worn the blue tie before have been working hard to see that they score the mark for the blue tie and today they are being celebrated and they are happy that they have been able to achieve it so what that means is that it encourages others to be more committed in their studies,” he said.

He also said the award encourages academic excellence as well as discipline in the students and teachers who also have to put in their best to see that students do well.

He, however, warned parents whose children were not awarded that it is not a good reason or justification for them to tongue-lash the children for not wearing the blue tie.

Principal of the school, Mrs. Oluwakemi Onochie, explained why the school management usually sets aside a day annually to honour its brilliant students referred to as Unique Scholars.

“Honour roll award in Unique Height is put together to reward students who cumulatively scored ‘A’ grades in not less than 10 subjects including English and Mathematics at the Junior Secondary School level and ‘A’ grades in not less than seven subjects including Mathematics and English at the Senior Secondary School level”, she said.

Guest speaker at the occasion, Mrs. Olayinka Oluwadare, also stressed the importance of inculcating the spirit of excellence in children during their formative years especially in a challenging society such as Nigeria.

Oluwadare spoke on “Making Excellence a Habit in a Challenging Society” where she said that to make excellence a habit, there is the need to study the excellent God who is the originator.Oluwadare who described Nigeria as a challenging society said this is a nation where people are ruled by mediocre and failures.

“It is a nation where morally depraved persons are elected as leaders and celebrated. In this nation excellence is resisted and intelligent persons are assassinated or abducted. It is a nation where parents have devalued education and do register their children in the so called special centres to write external examinations.

This is a nation where people impersonate candidates to help them write examinations. What a greatly depraved society,” she lamented.

The school administrator regretted further that these are the odds against which students have to fight to make excellence a habit but added that one should not say because mediocrity is celebrated, then shun excellence.

The incoming Head Prefect of the school, Abdul-Rahman Folaranmi, said he sees his new post as a lot of responsibility and an avenue for him to show his ability to lead well in the school and in the society as he promised to take the school to greater heights.