Bridge Nigeria Graduates Shine in Secondary Schools

The importance of education, being the bedrock of the society and the tool that breaks down all barriers cannot be overemphasised, education is part of the foundation of all progress and growth, both as an individual and as a society. For children who will contribute significantly to the future workforce, access to quality education at the basic education level is critical for their later learning and future success.

A strong early learning foundation is the ladder to ensure a future where they can adapt and thrive. Children, especially from poor backgrounds stand a chance at a bright future with quality education. This can be said of children who have graduated from Bridge Nigeria community nursery and primary schools located in underserved areas in Lagos and Osun state. Fatimat Ibrahim, a graduate of Bridge was recently selected as a 2021/2022 African Leadership Academy (ALA) finalist, for demonstrating outstanding potential in areas of leadership, entrepreneurship, passion for Africa and academic achievement.

Fatimat attended a Bridge school in Ibeju Lekki and emerged as the best performing female pupil in the national common entrance examination in 2019. It qualified her for selection on national merit to attend a federal secondary school of her choice. Due to her exceptional performance, Fatimat won a scholarship from the Purple Girl Foundation, covering her secondary school education.

Fatimat’s success story started when her mother enrolled her at Bridge, a school with a track record of supporting and training teachers to help bring out the best in their pupils. Fatimat joined Bridge after hearing from her friends who told her they learn a lot everyday and how much fun they found the school. According to Fatimat, her teachers make lessons fun and interesting, and are always happy to explain anything she found confusing. The once timid Fatimat had to come out of her shell due to the personable approach used by Bridge in teaching. Bridge uses a teaching and learning approach that involves age-appropriate learning, by adapting to a child’s level of understanding, identifying the readiness of a child to learn, and then following the best-suited method of teaching.

Another ex-pupil, Shiji Sowemimo recounted how the learnings and experiences at Bridge have propelled him to continue to excel and break boundaries even in his secondary school. Shiji who was the best performing Bridge pupil in the 2020 national common entrance exams urged all Bridge pupils to continue to be worthy ambassadors of Bridge as they continue their academic pursuit and encouraged them to remain focused, dream big, be resourceful, plan to succeed and never get tired of making a difference.

“I am privileged to share my experiences and successes because of the support I have received from my mother, teachers and level of hardwork and dedication I have put into my studies at Bridge” He noted.

A top performing Queens College student, Anuoluwapelumi Dawodu also graduated from a Bridge school in 2020. She describes herself as a confident, hardworking girl who loves reading books about history and hopes to become an Archaeologist in the future. She developed interest in Archaeology when she read about a volcanic eruption that destroyed an entire village in Peru. Anuoluwapelumi said she would miss her primary school because the method of teaching and classroom management techniques enable pupils to work harder and be of good behaviour. Her favourite teachers are Esther Osime and Victor Adeyanju because they were great teachers who taught well and encouraged her to be better at whatever she did.

Bridge Nigeria’s Managing Director, Foyinsola Akinjayeju said “We are proud of our efforts at Bridge to elevate every child’s prospects through quality education as a foundation for broader life opportunities and have designed our classrooms, teaching materials and school structure to empower and support our pupils. This takes deliberate thought and intentional design.”

As children transition through the learning continuum, early education experiences set the stage for their future success. Therefore, access to quality education, supportive parents and highly motivated teachers trained on how to meet the academic and moral developmental needs of the people, young children are placed on sturdy pathways to educational and lifelong success.