We Will Build On The Foundation Laid By Past Leaders In NAPPS –Obi

Oasis Magazine had a brief exclusive interview with Mrs. Rose Obi, Secretary of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Delta State.

In this interview, she spoke on some of the things that members should expect in 2024.

She also urged school owners that are yet to be members of NAPPS to do so, while calling for more partnership from the Delta State government.

Read on!

A new NAPPS exco has since been sworn in. What is the goal?

We were sworn in sometime in August, 2023 and NAPPS is the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools. We are going to build on the foundation laid by our past leaders. The vision of NAPPS is to ensure that all our members are protected and are given the right exposure to the 21st century teaching pattern. Our business is unique because it is purely professional business and if you observe very well, some school owners are not trained educationist hence, we encourage them to do the Post graduate program or attend seminars regularly so they can have the knowledge of training children. If you want to succeed in any business you find yourself, you have to have an idea of that business. NAPPS has done so well in the state because we have a cordial relationship with the government of the day, the Commissioners, directors, CIE’s with the regards to education. It boils down from the highest level to the lowest level and you know, if the relationship is in order, everybody is at peace. We are major stakeholders in the education industry so we try to strike a balance between the government and the parents. In striking a balance, we have resolved to give nothing but the best to the children under our care.

What is your 2024 message to NAPPS members?

My word to NAPPS as an association is that this year, the executives which of course I am part of should look into training for school owners and also organise training for all our teachers. We also have to have events for our learners. Remember that the idle mind is the devil’s workshop. I am really interested in some areas that we have not given attention for major competition. I know the state government is organising sports for both public and private but we’ve not really dived into home Economics, Agriculture, Arts and the likes. Now my word to NAPPS is that this year we could have our Arts and Culture festival. This kind of event can be done at the three Senatorial districts; Central, South and North so that we will engage our youths very well. I attended a programme some time ago, it was organised by an individual for children and it was basically basketball. In fact, I spent about four hours that day and it was a time well spent. You see, our children these days have a lot of energy to burn and this is the era of social media. Social media is good but it is also bad but if we are purposeful and engage the children well, the negative effect from social media may not have a bad influence on them. Also, I urge NAPPS members to continue to up their game. NAPPS today is organising the Unified Examination. NAPPS today has a program for all children games from the national to state and local government levels. NAPPS today also has our scheme for schools to use. NAPPS is into a lot of things and the list is endless and there are many things we are going to unveil in this 2024. I also urge members to have a calendar of a more robust activities that will carry the school owners, learners, teachers and the parents along.

Any words to school owners not yet in NAPPS?

My word to those who have not joined NAPPS is that NAPPS is a national association. Go through any organisation that is the umbrella body for educationists. It is just NAPPS that has the structure from the national to the local government.  So, if you are a school owner and you really want to thrive in the business that you are doing, please join NAPPS.  You will be glad you did. NAPPS is an organisation that is not just interested in gathering people and making noise but ensuring that people are well informed of the business that they are running. For those that are not in NAPPS, I want to encourage them to join NAPPS because it is a national body and we operate from Abuja, to all the states and local government areas in Nigeria. It beats my imagination that someone who knows about this association that runs through from the national to state and local government still desires to be in an organisation where they don’t even have state executive, just a local setting. If you really want to improve, you need to join the moving train.

ALSO READ: Osanebi Meets APC Stakeholders In Ndokwa Nation

Any message for the governor of the state in the area of education?

The message for the governor of the state in the area of education is that they should see private schools as their own. Like the palliatives that were given, they didn’t get to private schools and then recently, the one after the subsidy of petrol, also didn’t get to private schools. In the private sector, we are humans like other parents. What other teachers in government schools are benefiting, teachers in private schools should also benefit and that is why we want to commend the Federal government. When it was COVID 19, it was made to all and whatsoever government schools benefit from then, private schools also benefited from too and so, it was made to all. Some of our teachers were paid three months by the government which is highly commendable. Today, we see the government doing things for teachers in government schools and it does not get to private schools. I want to suggest that the government of the day, can actually have training for teachers in specific areas like Mathematics, English, Physics, Sciences,  Agriculture etc and such trainings can be done at the Delta Central level and other levels so that all can be on the same page both in government and in private schools. So, I want to properly encourage the government of the day to always consider private schools when they are having their programmes and once the private schools are on the same page as the government schools, it is going to go a long way. Remember that those in the private sector are complementing the efforts of the federal government and we are not in a competition. We are only complementing them. The governor should see private teachers or school owners as partners in progress because the private sector is complementing the effort of the government. Now if we have for instance, 10,000 (ten thousand) students in private schools, you can imagine if there were no private schools, where will those children be? Apart from that, the private schools have also assisted in reducing unemployment because we employ people. So the government should try and consider those in the private sector because when the fuel subsidy removal was done, the benefits went only to teachers in public schools. It didn’t get to teachers in private schools which I think is quite unfair because the teachers in private schools are also humans like the teachers in public schools. We have parents, teachers and learners and then we are school owners; these are major stakeholders. So, whatever the government tries to do, they should try to carry along teachers in the private school sector. Even at the end of the year, the government should remember private schools and send things to them. It will make sense because we are helping the government of the day and frankly speaking, we won’t stop helping because the best is yet to come.