Clement Adeyi, Osogbo
Students of St John’s Grammar School, Ile-Ife, Osun State, who have big dreams of finishing their secondary education in flying colours and to excel in their academic pursuit are in joyful mood, following the donation of a well equipped library to the school by the old students.
The school was founded by a missionary, Reverend Father Fabian Cloutier, several years ago but was taken over by the state government.
The library, which was officially handed over to the school and commissioned by the former Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Kehinde Bamigbetan, an old boy, was donated by the old boys of the 1979-1984 set.
Before the gesture, the students’ study base was limited to their classrooms where full concentration and access to wide range of books was impossible. Reason? The school library building became dilapidated.
It was the lack of this important educational facility that spurred the old boys into providing new one for the school to resuscitate the value that library added to their academic endeavours in their time.
The Coordinator of the old students, Mr Adetogun Adewuyi, disclosed that the library cost about N4.5million and was equipped with books worth N600,000, apart from several others that were donated by different sets and other philanthropists. He added that the books cut across all subjects and other fields of life.
“We want to complement the efforts of the missionary founder, Father Fabian Cloutier, to raise more lawyers, doctors, engineers, architects etc for this country,” he enthused.
In his remarks, Bamigbetan, called on governments at various level to toe the path of Bola Ahmed Tinubu when he was Lagos State governor to return public schools to the owners, especially the missionaries, “who can manage them better and make things work.”
He assured that through such development, improved infrastructure and teaching/learning materials would be guaranteed and the dwindling standard of education can be restored to the system.
He added that library was one of the pivots of academic excellence and urged the students to maximise its potentialities.
In a goodwill message, the current principal of the school, Mr Olajide Makinde, who belonged to the 1973-1977 set said: “I congratulate all the members of this set for actualising their dreams to return to their ‘source’ and replenish it. Your sacrifice of time and money to restore the glory of this your alma mater will not be in vain.”
Bishop of Catholic Diocese of Osogbo, Reverend John Oyejola, told the students: “The library is an opportunity for you to be open to information, to be able to attain academic excellence and become like the old students who have excelled in various fields and now adding value to your school.”
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education in Osun East Education District, Mr Adelani Aderinwa, who lauded the old students’ gesture said that library was key to education’s development.
A judge of the Osun State High Court, Justice Olayinka Afolabi, called on government to introduce Library Studies to the secondary school curriculum to improve students’ reading culture for academic excellence.