Stakeholders caution on skill acquisition, academic pursuit

Education stakeholders in the country have said that emphasis on skill acquisition for students should not be pursued at the detriment of their academic excellence.

Speaking with journalists at the first inter-house sports events of the Forte Credence International School, Ilorin, an educationist, Pastor Adeleke Emmanuel, said that both skill acquisition and academic excellence must be inculcated in students to produce all-round excellence in them.

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“The two have to go together. If you are skilled and not educated or knowledgeable, how will you sell your products? Both have to go hand in hand. Many are skilled but they cannot communicate or express themselves or put up business proposals, sell themselves, etc. Thus, they remain where they are.”

Pastor Emmanuel, a retired civil servant and the school proprietor, called on the Kwara state government to address multiple taxation on private schools in the state, saying that running private school businesses can be financially straining.

“How the government can help private school proprietors in the state is this. Running a private school can be financially straining. Educational materials are expensive and the government are not helping us either. You are asked to pay for this and that in the form of taxes. Despite having met the set standard, the government still want us to go higher in academic standards,” he said.

The school proprietor, who said that there is no business without its challenges, added that the niche carved among other schools had served as edge over others.

“Our selling points are in the facilities, education standard and affordable tuition fees. We compete favourably with older private schools in Ilorin.

“We engage our students in skill acquisition because we don’t want them to excel only in academics, but also in vocation, confidence, character and knowledge,” he added.

At the end of the sports competitions, Green House came top, while Red House took second position and Blue House got third position.