Zoe Schools at 20 reloaded: Coding, robotics, AI, Google teaching, boarding – new phase of Ogbomoso fastest growing schl (PHOTOS)

Zoe Schools at 20 reloaded: Coding, robotics, AI, Google teaching, boarding – new phase of Ogbomoso fastest growing schl

Abdulrasaq BELLO

Zoe Schools Ogbomoso, Oyo state Friday celebrated its 20th anniversary of existence with a thanksgiving service and praises, held at the auditorium of its ministry arm, True Worshippers Church, TWC, Oke-Anu.

The event attended by several guests, enthusiastic parents and guardians as well as students and alumni, who all came to rejoice on the milestone, would be remembered for a long time to come.

The school which began with 13 students and six teachers on September 13, 2004, has grown in leaps and bounds now operating 8 branches in different locations and boasting over 3, 000 pupils/students and 211 staff.

“This is one of the fastest growing schools in Ogbomoso,” a commentator noted while speaking with ogbomosoinsightonline.com at the event.

But the feat came with difficulties and challenges which almost derailed the vision. “20 years, it has been God. The day the school clocked 3 years and 2 terms, we were planning for the third term, two weeks to resumption, the proprietor invited me and threw me a bombshell,” Pastor Ebenezer Alao, a pioneer staffer, who rose through the ranks from being a teacher, bursar, headmaster, principal and now consultant, said while giving testimony.

He continued, “The proprietor told me, ‘we are going to sell this school.’ I was shocked. I asked why, and he now said I should go and pray and he would still pray too. There was a lot of distress but here we are today, thank God.”

The school survived and is going stronger. In his remark, the proprietor, Rev’d Niyi Adebayo, took time to unveil the new prospectus of the school, “We are reloading as we commence another session, in the ICT we are taking a step further, we are properly reloading, we have introduced coding, and robotics by the special grace of God. We will then move to AI (Artificial Intelligence) straight. It is a new dawn at Zoe as far as technology is concerned. We are also going to reload our vocational activities. Our students will graduate with two certificates – WAEC and vocational. Minimum of one vocation either in barbing, photography, videography, cosmetology, fashion designing, just name it. It is now very mandatory for every student of Zoe to take one, we want to inculcate in them proper skills, that is the reality of where we are today in Nigeria. We are reloading to become more and more effective.”

Rev’d Niyi & Pastor Mrs. Grace Adebayo, proprietor and proprietoress

Rev’d Adebayo Lead Pastor of TWC also saying the school would soon receive a consignment of sewing machines enthused that their students produced items used in the school like ‘izal,’ soap etc. “So, it is mandatory and we want our students and parents and guardians to cooperate, it is not only about reading and writing, we have actually moved a step forward,” he said.

The school is giving all round development, he added, informing they just returned from an excursion, a train trip from Ibadan (Oyo state capital) to Abeokuta (Ogun state capital), where they visited the ancient Olumo Rocks to explore its tourism potential.

This as he stressed the school is committed to developing spoken English and eloquence of their students, “we are devoted to phonics, diction and elocution, handwriting also. Then, we have introduced abacus (a counting frame) to our students to improve their proficiency in mathematics, from primary one to SS 3, it is compulsory for all pupils and students.

“Furthermore, we have embarked on super-massive transformation of our branches, acquiring new structures, we are starting Google lesson, flip classrooms or what we call online classes. We want to bring in external professionals, though we have good teachers on ground but we want to explore that aspect for diversification and inflaming our students’ passion and interest. We have experimented it and students will be able to ask questions. There are also embracing the video lesson introduced by the Oyo state government in all subjects, primary one to SS 3, to complement classrooms teaching. Zoe is boldly stepping into its new phase.”

Rev’d Segun Babalola Minister-in-Charge of Glad Tidings Baptist Church Ogbomoso and Chairman of Ogbomoso Baptist Conference

Meanwhile, he disclosed the Founder’s Day will be celebrated in an elaborate way with royal fathers, ministry of education officials from Oyo state and Abuja, this will come up later in the year. “The new phase of Zoe, we solicit your prayers,” this is just as he promised salary increment and payment of 13th month salary to his workers in the face of the current hardship in the country, “It is our little way to contribute to your life to deal with the challenges we face in Nigeria.”
As the school recorded remarkable feats in external exams and various competitions like coming first in an NNPC competition, it had faced excruciating challenging situations too. “When we first started, the caretaker of the property we rented at Isale General mocked us and even reported us to the ministry of education that we were defrauding parents because we put the name ‘Zoe Group of Schools’ when we didn’t have up to 100 pupils. We were disturbed what do we do, do we change the name? It was unbearable. We were depressed. He would call on phone taunting, ‘Group of Schools,’ but he didn’t see what we see. But thank God the Baba is still alive and could see group of schools. I am happy God humbled him and he came to apologize. I thank God the vision did not die.”

Some other daunting challenges are collapsed exam hall in which their 60 WAEC candidates that year escaped by the whiskers, because the supervisor demanded they started 30 minutes before schedule, “If not it would have been catastrophic because the students would still have been writing the paper when the structure came crashing down. But the last person was stepping out when we heard a loud bang.Our school buses on two occasions were involved in funny accidents, first time, as the driver of a fully loaded 35-seater bus was locking the door outside, one of the pupils engaged the gear and bus began a free unmanned descent in a busy sloppy road but thank God it didn’t result in collission or crash. At another time on motion one of our buses burst into flame. The funny thing is that on each of the three occasions mentioned above, news had flown that our students had perished, thank God nothing like that happened.”

Also, he said they fought a lot of battles against exam malpractices, against giving in to pressure from parents who were demanding they assisted their students in external exams. Also, many sacrifices were at a time being put in their school, “but thank God they are the ones we don’t see today, Zoe is kicking.”

Delivering the sermon, Venerable Adebayo, elder brother of Rev’d Niyi Adebayo, from Anglican Diocese, Ibadan asserted, “Zoe Schools is a work of God and the gate of hell shall not prevail over it. We are celebrating the faithfulness of God today. You started small God will continue to expand you. Imagine from 13 pupils. Hold on to the promise of God. Be steadfast in whatever you are doing, for God and for your life. God has rewards, which no one can deny anyone. Nobody has the capacity to do so. So, it is not about the person it is about God. And that is what has manifested in the growth of this school. Don’t ever be afraid to take step of faith. God has never disappointed the school and the management. Today, we have come to praise Him for answered prayers.”

A representative of the alumni, who has graduated form the Oba Awolowo University Ile-Ife, as well as a representative of parents also rejoiced with the school and spoke glowingly of its vision and operations and knowledge imparted in the students.