Ruth Marie Olomu is the Chief Executive Officer/Director of Dawnfield Montessori School, Ago, Okota Lagos. She attended the prestigious University of Benin where she obtained a Bachelor of Law Degree and called to the Nigerian Bar in 1998. She has a Post Graduate Diploma in Education from the University of Port Harcourt. She believes that early childhood education is the foundation for a child’s journey through life, and that the child at this stage should be imparted with quality education and helped to imbibe noble virtues that will guide the child through life. She shares with JOY NGWOLO her resolve to ensure good and quality educational system for Nigerian children through Dawnfield Montessori School.
Chief Executive Officer/Director of Dawnfield Montessori School, Ago, Okota Lagos
What led you to setting up Dawnfield School?
Several reasons motivated me to set up Dawnfield School. One of them is that at some point in my career, I worked with child care services and discovered that I enjoyed working with children. In the process of doing that, I had a lot of interface with schools but was disappointed at the standard of education particularly at the nursery section. When I wanted to enrol my son in a school, I wasn’t happy to find that the standard of education in some schools was really low. I felt there was something I could do about it so I began to make some research. I also went to the Ministry of Education, Alausa to make enquiries on the requirements of setting up a nursery and primary school. I took a course on the Montessori method of education as well as did a Post Graduate Diploma in Education at the University of Port-Harcourt. I knew that there were parents who were also looking out for quality education especially at the nursery and primary levels. There are quite a good number of schools but their fees are not affordable for the average parent, so I decided to create a platform that will provide quality education at an affordable price and that is why I embarked on this journey.
How do you define quality education, what does it entail?
It is a range of activities that are designed to ensure that a child is not only able to read and write, but is able to apply knowledge gained and interact with the world around him and is able to contribute value to the society. Any education that does not contribute positively to society is a waste. Recently, we were given an award for quality education and also for the national spelling bee competition.
What sets Dawnfield School apart from others?
First and foremost, we have ensured that we created a robust curriculum, after looking into that of the western world and what they teach kids in the 21st century. We have taken that curriculum and blended it with our Nigerian curriculum. We have also ensured that we employed and trained good quality Education graduates, we have designed a programme where we also train them. We ensure that our parents follow up with our children. It is not enough for parents to leave their work to teachers and with all of these, our children perform excellently well.
What can you say about the standard of education in Nigeria?
The quality of education in Nigeria is unarguably low but some individuals have taken it upon themselves to provide schools and facilities that aid sound learning. Nigerian children are going abroad and they are competing favourably with children in the western world. I think what should be done to the Educational system in Nigeria is that teachers need to be trained. Education has moved from memorisation; we are now in an era point of applying what you have learnt. The way forward is for teachers to be trained continuously.
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the government has shut down schools, do you think this is the right step to take now? And how do you think it will affect the academic system?
I think it is the right step to take now because Coronavirus as we were told, is spread by contact from someone who is infected, and we know that our health care system is weak, so it is better we prevent the virus than wait for the virus to kill a lot of people. It is good that the government has taken this step even though it might bring about some inconveniences but we have to be alive first. If staying together in groups will cause a rapid spread of the disease, it is better that we stay away. Whenever the Coronavirus is eliminated, we can come back to school, I want to say thumbs up to the government for making such a decision as difficult as it is.
What impact do you think it will have on school owners and children?
In terms of impact, it has terminated learning and process of examination for those who have not written their exams for second term, we don’t know when we will be coming back. I think the impact can be better assessed at the end of this period. It has affected studies; it has affected parents because we all lose income while obeying the stay at home order. Parents are not educators and as such will not be able to provide a robust organised home study for their children. But we believe that the pandemic will end soon as scientists are working round the clock to find solutions to the problem.
Do you think it will affect children academically?
Yes, it will because when children are at home, parents might not be able to follow up as they should. But I believe that when the children come back, they will pick up.
How can parents engage their children during this period?
They can go online to get educational materials, print them out and give the children to read to keep them busy. They can also go to bookshops to get age appropriate materials and use them to engage the children all day. They can also spend time talking to their children about life lessons, their culture, language, food and family. They can also teach them how to bake and cook.
Do you think government is doing enough to curtail the spread of the virus?
I think government is doing something but it is not enough because what I hoped that by now there would be advertorials translated into local languages directed at grassroots people who cannot speak English for instance the market women where they are constantly being told about social distancing, washing of hands, use of hand sanitisers, wearing of face masks; I also expect that by now Geepee tanks would have been erected and placed in strategic positions in markets so that people can wash their hands and they don’t have to pay for it.
