Received as a vision from God by Mrs Olufunke Gesinde, Triplecross Schools has over the years carved a niche for itself in the Educational sector. According to the Head Teacher of the Nursery and Primary section, Mr Bola Kujimiyo, “Triplecross Schools has achieved major milestones in the three domains of Education, which are the Affective, Cognitive and Psychomotor domain.”
“In the Affective domain, we have been able to shape the character of our pupils to the extent that they are able to maintain a balanced behaviour in their generation. They have been able to behave well by exhibiting Agape love, demonstrating peace with everyone, showing meekness and gentleness among peers, training their minds and exhibiting self-control.”
The School was birthed over 30 years ago when Mrs Gesinde had her children. She never had house helps so she had to take her children to Daycare Centres. “I had difficulty finding Daycare Centres that met my needs. So I asked myself if it was impossible for anyone to set up a place where a parent could put his or her child and have peace of mind. That was when I started thinking about setting up a school.”
The first challenge she had was that she was not a trained teacher. Knowing that, she got herself trained. At that point, she was able to travel abroad where she had the opportunity to study at a school that trains people to set up and run schools inclusive of Daycare Centres. She also learnt about the different teaching Methodologies and she obtained a Post-graduate Diploma in Child Care Management.
She also had to undergo training in the Montessori method of teaching from which she obtained another Diploma. With that settled, she observed that the main challenge for most schools was finance. “For you to run a very good school you have to have access to a lot of money. There is nobody who does not want to have a very good school but most people are limited by the funds they have access to, that is the main challenge.”
Another challenge she identified was the availability of qualified personnel. “A lot of Nigerians went to school but a lot of them are not employable and even with the ones who are, you have to be on their neck to ensure that they do what they are supposed to do. And you have to do training, monitoring and mentoring for them to be able to get whatever you want achieved so those were the main challenges I faced.”
Through it all, Triplecross Schools became a reality and has become a symbol of excellence in the Educational Sector. It boasts of an Art Studio, Biology Laboratory, Chemistry Laboratory, Computer Laboratory, Introductory Technology Laboratory, Library and Music Room among other facilities.
“The first thing I will say is the help of the Holy Spirit. God has been with us like I said, when we started we were just doing our own thing. Because I studied about how to set up and run a School in the United States, I had an idea of what I wanted. When I was coming back to Nigeria, I believed that I would make a difference and was determined to be better. So I gave everything and God helped me. When we started, we started like other schools but each year we strive to improve the standard of the children. By the time I went for the Montessori course, I discovered that the course was a fantastic course and it made the school even better because I had to go for the course myself and I had an ‘A’ in the course because I was really serious and I really wanted to know it. So I also discovered that Montessori method of teaching was a very effective way to make the children read very fast and God sent me some very good Staff.”
Looking forward, the Proprietress believes that continuous improvement is non-negotiable. “In the near future, we will keep on improving the School because you can never say that you have arrived. There is always room for improvement. We are always striving to do better and better. We have to continue to work on the children. Until we get there, the Lord will continue to help us.”
Ayodeji V.O for Church Gist
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