By Kemi Yesufu and Fred Ezeh
It was celebration time recently for staff, family and friends of the proprietoress of Brookstone International Foundation School, Mrs. Betty Apiafi, as the Abuja study centre of the school secured the endorsement and partnership of the Northern Consortium of United Kingdom Universities (NCUK).
The endorsement means that students from Brookstone Foundation School would have the opportunity of securing admission in 16 UK universities on the platform of NCUK.
The celebration, which started at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, where several dignitaries, parents and students gathered for the 2017 education fair, culminated in the inauguration of the new Brookstone International Foundation School in Mabushi district, Abuja.
The landmark partnership was a clear endorsement of the academic and social programmes, among others, being offered in the school, preparatory to students’ enrolment into undergraduate programmes in any of the 16 universities that are on the platform of the NCUK.
An elated Apiafi told Abuja Metro that the endorsement by NCUK was a recognition of several efforts and hard work by the staff and management geared towards the provision of a great educational platform for Nigerian students desiring to acquire quality and affordable education in the UK, to prepare them to compete favourably with contemporaries from across the world.
She pointed out that although the Port Harcourt study has produced brilliant students who have done well academically and otherwise abroad, but the endorsement would further encourage other students to take advantage of the platform to realise their academic dreams.
“Due to excellent academic performance of our students, a school in Canada traced us to our Port Harcourt school to learn and partner with us. That was a result of the amazing academic performance of one of our students who was sent to study in Canada,” she said.
Apiafi said Brookstone’s arrival in Abuja was as a result of the high demand for its services, as evident in the academic performance of students, particularly in 2016, when the school won the global best academic award. And the award came because of the “extra effort of our teachers to prepare the students for the great task ahead.”
She promised to uphold standards and exceed all expectations, so as to retain the confidence of students and other partner institutions, locally and internationally.
NCUK Market Development Executive, Andrew Straughan, commended the school for its consistency in providing and maintaining quality education and pastoral standards, even in the midst of operational challenges occasioned by the harsh economic environment in Nigeria.
Straughan was optimistic that the recognition would further strengthen the effort of Brookstone School to provide instructional and academic guide to students who are aspiring to study in the UK, so that they can well informed and make right academic choices that would fulfill their desires.
“The endorsement would offer the students easy access and admission to any of the 16 NCUK universities in UK. Coming from the platform of Brookstone, the students would enjoy certain privileges that would make them comfortable and focus in their education,” Straughan explained.
Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education and Services, Hon. Zakari Mohammed, in his remarks, congratulated the staff and management of the school, and charged them to share the secret of their success with other private educationists.
He identified the importance of quality and affordable education to the growth and development of Nigeria, thus promising to provide legislative framework that would encourage private investment in education.
The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Paul Arkwright, described the development as the continuation of the consolidation of an already successful partnership between both parties.
“It’s a unique, collaborative project, which is an outstanding example of relationship between UK and Nigeria. I might not be correct but we might have approximately 18,000 Nigerian students currently studying at different stages of UK education system. That accounts for the fourth largest international students in UK.
“Brookstone already enjoys an extremely strong reputation as a quality education provider here in Nigeria, expanding from their current operations in Port Harcourt. NCUK has also operated in Nigeria with Brookstone for over 10 years,” the envoy said.
He opined that the establishment of the international foundation year programme in Abuja was a mark of expansion of portfolio, offering Nigerian students the opportunity to complete their one year part-way programme before achieving guaranteed progression to the first year of the leading degree programmes in the UK.
Two students, Usman Baba Usman and Khaled Maneni, who spoke to Abuja Metro said that coming in contact with Brookstone was the best thing that had happened to their education journey as it gave them the opportunity to gain admission into schools of thier choice. While Baba Usman opted for software engineering, Khaled said he was interested in studying robotics or architecture at the University of Manchester.