By Mike Adeyemi
Parents and guardians have been urged to discover the innate talents of their wards at early stage rather than depending on academic knowledge alone for the success of their children.
The Senior Secondary School Principal of Queen Elizabeth School, Ilorin, Hajia Rahmat Abdurahman gave the charge on the occasion of Music, Arts and Cultural week celebration at the school premises on Monday.
According to her, the college is blazing another trail in fulfilment of its mission to annex all resources available in order to produce educated and professional women as future leaders.
Abdulrahman said the event is targeted at ‘catching the students young’ amidst eroding cultural values in the society.
“Aside education, I think we should provide our students with a Plan B which they could fall back on in the future to add value to their lives,” she stated.
Speaking further, she said, “We are working in agreement with the Kwara State Art Council on the best way to package the festival to meet wider acceptance.
“We are equally planning to document and archive the cultural performance of our students for future references.”
She added that gone are the days when musicians, actors and actresses are seen as paupers and rejected by most families and the society.
“On this note, we have invited a son of the soil and a renowned Nollywood actor, Femi Adebayo to lead the upcoming ones on how to blend education with talent.”
Abdulrahman however warned parents against preference to English Language at the detriment of indigenous languages.
She said, “Speaking English with your children all the time at the expense of your local dialect does not make him/her more intelligent or outstanding as erroneously believed by many parents.”
The three-day event which is the 3rd edition, according to her, gulped over N1million in terms of logistics. She however appreciated all the donors
Abdulrahman said this edition is the 3rd of its kind, organised by the college in partnership with some cooperate organisation.
‘Though it cost the College lots of money, but the long run of it is that we have value for our money’.
She said the cultural display cut across all the students in their various classes as the parents and the stakeholders of the college were happy and are solidly behind the success of the program.
Highlight of the occasion was the award of scholarship to a teaching practice student of Kwara State College of Education Ilorin, Awobiyi Eliseba by Femi Adebayo, for her tutorship of the students in theatre arts.
