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AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BY THE PRINCIPAL OF ST PATRICK COLLEGE EMENE ON THE
OCCASION OF PTA MEETING THIS DAY TUESDAY 23RD JANUARY 2018.![]()
INTRODUCTION: I am very happy to address this very important assembly. I thank God for making this day possible. You are very important in the sense that your choice of our college made it possible for your sons to be our students. And without students there will be no school; and if there are no school, we the teachers will be jobless. Thank you so much. Your membership of this noble community of SPACO Emene boosted our status and identity.
It is now more than one year since our last PTA meeting. Our meetings usually come up once every year. The current challenges of the time prevented us from calling for meetings. We actually did not want to add to your many challenges of life since God is always with us and the college is moving very fine and smooth. This notwithstanding, your rich contributions during meeting has really helped us over years; that’s why we always look forward to occasions like this. So this meeting is called to basically update and inform you about the college activities and also get your feedback which I hope will encourage us as usual. Once again you are highly welcome.
ADMINISTRATION: since assuming the leadership of this noble college, I have been enjoying a smooth administration. Our administrative structure is not only in existence but very active. We are blessed with dedicated and responsible staff. We have different types of staff: govt, mission, N-power, corpers and student teachers. These types of staff work in harmony and love for one another. We have a total staff strength of 176. All our subject as at today are all with at least a teacher. Our relationship with external authorities is very healthy. We fulfill our obligations to government and mission authorities. We observe our management and staff meetings as and at when due.
ACADEMICS: the result of hard work is always success. The united hard work of our staff have for some time now produced quality output in the academic development of our students. Our internal and external examinations have produced quality results. Students are no longer afraid of SSCE and many of them do not waste time in gaining admission into higher studies in universities. Personally I am happy with the level of our improvement in academics. VP Academics and VP Supervision are doing very well in managing our teaching and learning process.
ICT/AGRCULTURE: our plan is to make this college a real center for Information and Communication Technology (ICT). We have special sessions where students visit the ICT lab for practical computer lesson. We have in mind that before a student graduates from the college, he would have gotten a solid foundation in ICT and computer applications. Now our website is very active and our students each have their username and password to access the portal for their result and other learning applications. It will interest you that all our student from JS 1 to SS 3 had their 1st term moral instruction exam through CBT (computer based test) method. With this development, our students are strongly getting ready for coming challenges of CBT in external examinations like JAMB.
We are also developing our agricultural base. Our plan is to make the college a center for farming. We have massive farm for yam, cassava and maize. We have also gained so much from the yield such that our students are directly engaged in some of the stages like weeding, harvesting, processing of garri (we have a processing machine) and storage. Our harvests have really boosted our meals. Our students are now learning many things they never knew in farm work and these have helped in developing their interest in agriculture.
HOSTEL: the total boarding policy we started last academic session is really developing very fine. We made it a 3-year plan and we are now in the second year. Boarding system is very important. In spite of the challenges that accompany it; it is still a very suitable process that prepares a child for a balanced adult life. We plead that you bear with us in some of the challenges we encounter in the hostels; give it a positive mindset and take it as a crucial purificatory process. A process that will surely lead to greatness.
We have continued to develop programs towards the holistic formation of our students. Now we have approximately 700 students currently in the hostel. We have 13 hostels manned by responsible hostel masters who we commonly call the auxiliaries. Our students hand book has been revised and enlarged…we have also the annual bible diary mainly for holy mass. Students must have these materials and use them. Our plan is to build another hostel to make our admission next academic session possible. This administration is hoping that our student’s population will not exceed 1000. We are mainly interested not in quantity but in quality.
Our student’s moral life is our main priority and to this effect, we celebrate daily masses and other sacraments like 1st Holy Communion, confession, baptism, sick visitation and confirmation.
PROJECTS: God has really continued to bless us in this college such that every term we record the completion of at least one project. The testimony of the new face of St Patrick College Emene can never be exhausted. The latest is the newly completed 300 student’s capacity modern hostel with 12 toilets and bathroom and 4 staff apartment; all under one roof. During the last bishop’s visit, he blessed and commissioned a number of projects. Hopefully, his visit this year will be celebrated with the blessing and commissioning of our 180M X 4.7 X 2 Dual carriage entrance road which the construction commenced on Monday this week ie yesterday; the brand new hostel and a totally renovated refectory. We will never rest until this our dear college becomes second to none in terms of infrastructural development and formation.
HEALTH: we practice health insurance which its directive came from bishop Onaga who is the proprietor of this college. We have really gained from it and it has also saved a lot of money for parents.
FEES: the fees we collect in this college is primarily to assist us in forming your sons. They are my primary mission for now. All monies collected are responsibly utilized. Prudent management of our finances have also yielded many results in terms of project and staff motivations. Let me quicky refresh your minds on the fees you pay for your children: snr students = 35,000 while jnr students =32,000. Break down:
1. 15,000 feeding
2. 15,000 school fees
3. 2,000 PTA levy (mission staff salary. No longer enough)
4. 2,000 mission fees snr students only
5. 1,000 govt fees snr students only
BREAK DOWN OF THE FUNCTION OF 15,000 SCHOOL FEES
1. Payment of health insurance
2. Payment of ICT program
3. Utililty bills (stampduty, NEPA, NIPOST,bank charges in sch accounts)
4. Fumigation against snakes, bats and other reptiles
5. Maintenance of machines/repairs
6. Fuel, gas and diesel
7. Princpal’s house and staff motivations
8. Maintenance of buildings and environment (flower, grasses, electricals, plumbing, welding and capintary)
9. Maintenance of laboratories (ICT and science)
10. Security (arms and ammunition)
11. Purchase of electrical and mechanical appliances
12. Examinations etc….
Any form of owing and not paying will really be a very big setback in meeting the above responsibilities and more. We sincerely plead that you make payment of school fees a priority. Without money, no institution will ever survive and development. Money is a major factor to meaningful development.
TALENTS: we have succeeded in transforming this college into a center where talents are discovered. We now have college of organists, entertainers, sports (wrestling, boxing etc). Our college magazine is flourishing and it is 90% managed by students. We have a barbing saloon managed by students. Our garri factory is also partially being managed by some students. Our college is very conscious of the need to develop entrepreneurial spirit in young people. We are meeting this challenge and our students are happily developing their talents.
SPACO OLD BOYS: our relationship with our alumni has been very wonderful and rewarding. Our healthy relationship took me to USA in 2015 to attend the SPACOUSA Old Boys biennial convention. The result was the total renovation of our refectory sponsored by them. Last year 2017 I was also privileged to be invited and hosted by them in their convention which took place in Washington DC. It was a successful convention and they resolved to build toilets and bathrooms for the students. The project is currently under construction.
SPACO EMENE ENTRANCE ROAD: in line with our vision and plan for the college, our college entrance road is now our current headache. We want to bravely launch into the project because we know that were the WILL is, there is the WAY. The project is very important judging from the challenges we face from the road during rainy season and dry season. It has indeed given us a lot of concern because so much has been achieved internally but the entrance road has continued to water down these efforts. It shows the college as still old and dirty. The road when completed will totally transform the college to a prestigious institution. Even without much finances, we have already commenced the project which has been estimated to gulp at least 7.5 million naira. We are not going to discuss any levy for the project; we only hope that it will be completed so that it will become one of the projects our bishop will commission on 17th march ie during our feast day celebration. We will try as much as possible to source money from our IGR and from friends or seeking for soft loans. If there is a demand later, kindly oblige us a positive response. Parents significant input into the project is also a blessing because as long as the road is being used, more blessing will be showering on your family. Please pray for the success of this project. It has already started.
CONCLUSION: I want to thank you once again for believing in us which you expressed through leaving your children under our care. Almost all of them are happy with our care giving. They are excited about the projects being delivered in the college especially the current road project. Last two weeks we solved our drinking water problem during dry season by the provision of two more 1000 gallon tanks. We buy full tanker load of water from 9th mile every week. My dear parents, I still pledge my total royalty and commitment towards the progress and success of this very important college. By the grace of God, I will never fail you. Thank you and God bless you all.