New Wunti Academy In Bauchi Assures Academic Excellence, Drive Students To Excel In Life

BY KHALID IDRIS DOYA, Bauchi 

The Wunti Montessori Academy in Bauchi has said that it is poised to infuse into the students and teachers the sense of purpose and responsibility, and the drive to excel in all aspects of their life, academic, personal and social.

The new Academy under the Wunti Al-Khair Foundation (WAKF) also assured that the institution would be very caring and nurturing with students feeling not only supported, but also empowered.

A Consultant to the academy, Mr. Alex McGrath, while speaking at the academy’s stakeholders engagement in Bauchi yesterday, observed with dismay that there is a global shortage of high quality teachers and the other problems associated with teaching.

Mr. Alex stated, “We also look very carefully about the operation of the school, the curriculum. It is very important to work with the ministry of education, to make sure that there is alignment between these new curriculum and the Nigerian state curriculum”.

The consultant added, “The children who live in this academy will go into the Nigerian system, so it needs to be absolutely certain that the curriculum would prepare them for what comes in the future”.

He emphasised that it is also largely very important to find a cost-effective solution of running the academy and make it efficiently operate, while providing quality resources, leadership and teaching within the institution.

“Those are the areas that we want to learn from, because there would be huge obstacles which need to be overcome, as setting up the school is a multifaceted project with lots of areas where it can be stumbled”.

Alex also spoke of the need for partnership and collaboration of the different schools, agencies and institutions, not only to the success of the academy, but also to the success of the education of children of Bauchi state as a whole.

“Sharing is important in education, teachers are collaborators by nature, and therefore that collaboration would be important to crush those obstacles”.

“We feel that education is more than academic achievement, it is about shaping well-rounded human beings ready to contribute meaningfully to the world, not just mass-string subjects, but also the developing values, skills and the confidence”

He also recalled, “I have learnt a lot these last few days about the potentials of this community, but there is a lack of confidence in some areas, it’s hugely important we give the children that confidence. The school will integrate into international practice, but with a lawful northern Nigerian context”.

Also speaking at the occasion, a director of the Wunti Al-Khair Foundation, Muhammad Bashir Bala Wunti assured that they are committed to bring in quality, holistic and inclusive learning in Bauchi state that would empower children and transform their community.

Bashir explained that they would stop at nothing with the aspiration to set new standard of excellence, guided by their father’s principle until every child is educated, saying the gathering of the stakeholders signifies their passion for education and commitment towards building a better future.

Muhammad Bala Wunti conclusively said, “We deeply value your insights, support, and partnership in helping us bring this vision to life, together we can create a legacy that ensures that every child has the opportunity to learn, to grow and to thrive”.

A’isha Bala Wunti is another director of the foundation, who said that the academy is a vision to be a transformative, innovative and educational model, specifically built to fit the kind of culture, students, and the type of environment that citizens have in Bauchi state.

Hajiya A’isha Bala Wunti explained that the stakeholders engagement is geared to understand not only the challenges of the academy, but also the problems being faced by the students from the educational perspective.

A’ishatu Wunti said, “We want together with you and the consultant build something based on the academy, hopefully a school created with cultural principles of our children, and our hope is that this model can become a learning case study for help to build a typical educational model across the rest of the states in Northern Nigeria”. 

“I know I am sure we lack behind the southern part of the country, not because we lack capacity, not because we lack innovative experience, well-trained teachers and educationists like yourself, but probably due to issues such as lack of infrastructure, among others”, she said.

She expressed confidence that Wunti Academy would be a pioneer in building an educational model that works specifically for the Northern community, and called on the stakeholders to make their inputs on how best to run the institution.

“I think the people that are well played in different parts of the community, both at the leadership and students levels to tell us about their experiences, requirements and challenges are at the Wunti Al-Khair foundation”.

Director A’isha further stated, “We believe that we need to move away from creating solutions for people, to creating solutions with the people, that is the major goal of organizing the stakeholders engagement”.

The State Commissioner of Education, Dr. Jamila Mohammed Dahiru who also graced the occasion, expressed delight with the initiative by the Wunti Academy being solely funded by a citizen of the state, saying “That is the biggest part I am proud of, which means that we can make something tangible by ourselves”.

Dr. Jamila Dahiru who was represented by a director of planning, research and statistics in the state ministry of education, A’ishatu Ahmed Aminu, noted that the academy has 100 percent zeal to partake in all educational activities, explaining that the engagement is for the stakeholders to know where they are, what they left behind and where they were heading to.

She assured the academy that the ministry of education is ever ready, and it’s doors are also wide opened for it to intervene and collaborate with the institution in order to ensure that quality education has not only been regain in all schools, but has also been given to all the children of Bauchi state and the nation at large.