Follow Us on Google
From Tony John, Port Harcourt
Okrika Grammar School, (OGS), has been named Most Innovative School in Rivers State at the Port Harcourt Magazine Awards 2026, marking a dramatic turnaround for the historic institution as a pacesetter in technology-driven education.
Founded in 1940 by the Church Missionary Society and now under the Diocese of Okrika, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), OGS beat contemporary private and public schools to clinch the award for its bold embrace of Artificial Intelligence, robotics and digital learning.
Receiving the award, the Principal, Mr. Kelvin Fubara, said the honour validates the school’s conviction that age is no excuse for stagnation.
“The world is now a global village. Our students are not just competing with the boy or girl in the next classroom, or even the next state. They are competing with young people in Lagos, Nairobi and London for the same university admissions and the same jobs. If we do not raise them with 21st-century skills, we are sending them into that competition unarmed,” he said.
Fubara disclosed that OGS has established what is regarded as the first robotics laboratory in any secondary school in Rivers State, running structured programmes in robotics, Python programming and AI literacy.
“Setting the pace is not a slogan for us. It is what we do. While other schools are still deciding whether AI belongs in a classroom, our students are already building with it,” he declared.
He said the school’s transformation is anchored on deliberate investments, including a solar power system supporting learning, a Computer-Based Test, CBT, centre-preparing students for computer-based examinations, and computerised smartboards installed across classrooms for interactive teaching.
