The time has come again when parents are asking us about university pre degree courses for their children just completing SS3 or Year 11. Finding the Sixth form College for pre degree courses and the University that's right for your son or daughter can be a challenge. Unfortunately with falling oil prices and the devaluation of the naira which has made education abroad very expensive now, it is very important parents to seek the best counsel before making decisions. It will now cost between 7 million and 12 million naira to send a child for foundation or A level for 1 year and this excludes cost of ticket, visas etc. In the face of these huge costs, Nigerian parents who are struggling with these costs are better advised to patronize Nigerian Schools, sixthforms, and until we address the quality and capacity issues in our Universities, Nigerian parents might continue to vote with their feet and patronize universities abroad. The Government is advised to curb the attendant capital flight and brain drain issues by providing a better business environment for the growth and expansion of quality education institutions in the country.
Education is by far the most
important sector in the Country because of its role in producing highly
skilled and knowledgeable human capital that will contribute to its
economic growth, thereby increasing the GDP of the nation. In view of the urgent
need to diversify the economy because
of dwindling oil revenues and a
weakening naira, a major part of the
responsibility for preparing such a workforce rests on our Government &
its education sector and it is for this
reason that we as a nation must strengthen our commitment
to driving high quality education at
every level of the six spheres of education in Nigeria.
A better educated, better trained and
more adaptable workforce is the sine qua non for a successful recovery of the economy in Nigeria.
Now is the time for the new Government to look inwards and focus on building and increasing the number of high
quality educational
institutions from primary to tertiary. The Education sector
created the highest no of jobs last year which proves that it is one of the fastest growing sectors, but funding is still
a major barrier for most schools and
Universities. With mostly short term funding at exorbitant interest rates, the
Banks and Government are stifling the industry’s capacity for growth. There is an urgent need to stop
capital flight and brain drain in the education sector as this has contributed
to the weakening of the Naira. This can
start with the provision of a fund specifically for Education at single digit interest rates and longer tenor. Can you imagine
that we can only enroll 13% of over 1.5 million Jamb applicants who apply to
our Universities for places every year? This has left us at the mercy of aggressive competition from secondary schools,
pre degree sixthform colleges and Universities abroad including our Neighbours
in West Africa. They come in their hundreds every year to enroll our children
at times as young as 11years. In 2010 – 246 billion naira was spent in UK by Nigeria parents on
UK education for their children and 160 billion on 71,000 children in Ghana in
2012 this is nearly 40% of the Federal Ministry of Education Budget of 373.4
Billion in 2014!!
Having managed Global International College, a pre degree college and secondary school as CEO for over 16 years, I have been fortunate to speak to a lot of parents every year who have a lot of questions and need clarifications on pathways to progress to Universities. I have also found out that without these counseling, a lot of parents are making very costly mistakes of sending their children to wrong institutions, countries and sometimes too young for them to cope with the pressures of University, a new culture and life for the first time away from home .
Even before the current crisis as a result of the weakening naira, I always wondered why parents were rushing their children off abroad immediately after secondary or even earlier when there are many good alternatives in Nigeria and definitely cheaper and besides the children also get to spend more time with their parents which definitely is a plus because of need to further instill discipline & morals
At Global because we recognize that students are individuals and unique we have a solid plan in place and are committed to providing them the tools they need to succeed in school but also help them figure out the best fit University for them be it in Nigeria, USA, UK, Canada, Hungary, Ireland, Dubai or any where else in the World!
Basically at GIC we prepare students to acquire the right qualifications, be it O levels at IGCSE OR WAEC, the traditional A levels and various Foundation programmes that enables them progress to Nigeria, UK, USA, Canadian, European and Dubai Universities.
At Global we give students a soft landing after secondary school by providing them a bridge to top Universities all over the World.
This is very important for the following reasons
* We have found that when students stay back for a year or two they have the opportunity to mature & prepare for independent living before launching out to University. With us they are able to learn self reliance, Christian morals, Interpersonal, relationship building, resilience, self discipline & Independence skills
* They also learn how to be self disciplined Independent learners using the internet more to research for assignments and projects
* Behavioural Issues that come up are dealt with before it surfaces when they are in University on their own
* Exchange rate at over 360 to N1 now makes it very expensive to send students for A levels and foundation abroad, cheaper for students to study here and save the money for the 3 year degree.
* It’s amazing the number of students who have returned back from studying abroad after 1 or 2 years to start all over with us again. They have unfortunately struggled and failed their foundation or A level courses and are not able to progress to year 1 in University. The UKBA visa rules on progression are very strict and sometimes insist they come back to Nigeria and end up back with us thus costing parents a lot of pain and loss. These situation can be easily avoided if students and parents were better counselled to stay back, become more mature and deepen knowledge through our personalised programmes
* 90% of our students study abroad so from experience we start preparing our students for courses similar to those taken by their counterparts in their destination countries, so when they graduate with us , they will have the same certificate as the British, Canadian or America students which allows for seamlessly progression into university
We offer several pathways for students and our
students proceeding to the Universities
in NIGERIA, UK, USA, CANADA,HUNGARY,DUBAI & IRELAND. We prepare students for the following University
Preparation Programmes
1.
The traditional A levels Cambridge which can be taken in 18months -2
years OR
2.
Degree foundation programme for progression into UK Universities.
3.
International Foundation Programme for progression into CANADIAN Universities.
4.
Medical Degree Foundation programme for progression into Hungarian Medical Universities.
5.
University Foundation Programme /SAT & TOEFL for progression into
USA Universities
To learn more about options open to your son or daughter or If you want to enroll your child or get more information we will be delighted to speak to you .Pls call us on 07037232816 or visit our website at www. Globalinternationalcollege.com or visit us at
Lagos: Plot 26, Block 12, Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1,Lagos.
Abuja: Plot 66 Ebitu Ukiwe Street, Near Chida Hotels, Off Mike
Akhigbe Street, Jabi District Abuja
ABOLAJI OSIME
CEO
GLOBAL INTERNATIONAL SECONDARY AND COLLEGE
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