IT was Dr Nelson Mandela who said: “Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that a son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine; that a child of farm worker can become the president of a great nation.”
The above submission by the powerful symbol of the black struggle against apartheid in Southern Africa confirms the age-long importance of education and the reason parents strive to go the extra mile to ensure their children get adequate and qualitative education. This makes any venture in education lucrative.
An ideal proprietor
If you want to run a school, you must have a passion for children and be knowledgeable, be able to teach and assess a good teacher. You are the first basic raw material for a school business. Next is your passion for children. Importantly, you must be creative.
Start up cost
Most of the time, you don’t need money to start a school. It starts from your heart. Most states in the federation allow you to start in a rented apartment. But I prefer you start in a whole building, because it is against the law and it is not good for the business to share space with accommodation.
You don’t need hundreds of thousands to start, while tens of millions may not be enough. In case you do not have a dime to start, you can start from your sitting room, organising extra-mural classes for students. You can even start with a student. That, if well managed, will metamorphose into a continuing education centre, and later into a full-fledged school.
The first step is to go to the Ministry of Education in the state where you want to site your school to obtain form. It is between N10,000 to N15,000 depending on the charges of the government of the state where you want to site your school. Then name the school, make provision for the necessary facilities and get enough money to pay the salaries of your teachers for the first term.
Research and planning
Do a considerable research about the standard of schools around where you want to site your school to know their strengths and weaknesses and how you can use these to your advantage. Most importantly, do not site your school where there are popular schools. Explore the developing areas in the city where you want to site your school, if you cannot build, rent a whole building. You may start by offering good but cheap education.
Another thing is the quality of the teachers you are using. Teachers make schools, not the building. Even if your school is under a tree, with good teachers, you will get more children than schools in a better environment. And never owe your teachers. Once you begin to owe them, the standard will begin to fall as their zeal will depreciate. You can be sure that the parent of one student will propel another parent to bring his child.
You must know how to approach issues in teaching students, as it has been proved that a lot of the methods being taught in the universities and colleges of education are not applicable.
Cost and potential earning
What you charge as fee depends on the quality of the teachers you employed, the facilities available, and the value you placed on your services and your strategy which may gear towards offering cheap but qualitative education to get more students.
People must see that you are committed to school business and must make the facilities available. If the facilities are not yet on ground, they must be sure that you are going to make them available.
You are sure of getting money three times in a year as parents pay per term. You are sure of earning millions of naira from school business. But making money must not be the primary thing. Also note that you don’t divert school money, because as soon as you start diverting it, you will begin to owe your teachers, which may result in the falling standard of your educational services and finally kill your school. School is a living venture, if you don’t feed it, it dies.
Reputation and marketing
Good teachers and your creativity are the most potent marketing tools for you. These will endear your school to parents. But these do not undermine the place of advertisement in boosting patronage in every business.
LAOLU Aladesemipe, proprietor of Calvary Group of Schools, Felele, Ibadan, is a great motivation to whoever may want to invest in school business.
The B.Tech graduate of Bio-Chemistry from the University of Ibadan, ventured into school business out of frustration of being unemployed. He started his school business in a borrowed shop. Though without money, he had a keen passion for children.
“I started Calvary Group of Schools in 1998 with a child in a borrowed shop (where they now sell charcoal), opposite Splash F.M, at Felele Straight.
Later, I employed more hands to start a continuing education centre, preparing students for external examinations. It was from that I discovered the laxity in these children, who attended public schools. This made me start a cheap private secondary school in 2000.
“I was able to convince the teachers who I employed for the continuing educational centre alongside myself to start the secondary school. The level they established served as a yardstick for any teacher we employ in the school.
“I started the secondary school with 16 students and six teachers. After a year the student population grew to 40 and the teachers’ to nine, including myself taking Mathematics and Chemistry. I taught until the student population grew to about 250 and the school’s principal then, Mrs Ajetunmobi, sacked me and employed a Chemistry teacher.
Now we have about 150 teachers. Most of the students that finished from Calvary Group of Schools, now lawyers, doctor, et al, will tell you ‘Uncle Laolu taught me Mathematics and Chemistry.’
“When I wanted to start a primary school in 2004, I did a research, went on the internet and browsed through the profile of 3,000 schools in the United Kingdom, to set a standard. Then we kicked off with 80 students.
“Parents must have seen something before they could bring their children to the school. I think what they saw was the quality of teachers we have, our hard work, diligence and creativity. Five years after we started Calvary Group of schools, we did not have signboard, yet the student population continued to grow.
“It used to be only me with a child in a borrowed shop, but just about 13 years after, we have over 150 teachers, four primary schools and one secondary school.
“My creativity made me start Friday wears in 2003, which virtually every school in Ibadan has now subscribed to. We started Goggles Day to protect the students’ eyes, which is also being adopted by other schools,” Aladesemipe explained.
- Written by Olaoluwa Mimiola
- Source: Tribune
IT was Dr Nelson Mandela who said: “Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that a son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine; that a child of farm worker can become the president of a great nation.”The above submission by the powerful symbol of the black struggle against apartheid in Southern Africa confirms the age-long importance of education and the reason parents strive to go the extra mile to ensure their children get adequate and qualitative education. This makes any venture in education lucrative.
An ideal proprietor
If you want to run a school, you must have a passion for children and be knowledgeable, be able to teach and assess a good teacher. You are the first basic raw material for a school business. Next is your passion for children. Importantly, you must be creative.
Start up cost
Most of the time, you don’t need money to start a school. It starts from your heart. Most states in the federation allow you to start in a rented apartment. But I prefer you start in a whole building, because it is against the law and it is not good for the business to share space with accommodation.
You don’t need hundreds of thousands to start, while tens of millions may not be enough. In case you do not have a dime to start, you can start from your sitting room, organising extra-mural classes for students. You can even start with a student. That, if well managed, will metamorphose into a continuing education centre, and later into a full-fledged school.
The first step is to go to the Ministry of Education in the state where you want to site your school to obtain form. It is between N10,000 to N15,000 depending on the charges of the government of the state where you want to site your school. Then name the school, make provision for the necessary facilities and get enough money to pay the salaries of your teachers for the first term.
Research and planning
Do a considerable research about the standard of schools around where you want to site your school to know their strengths and weaknesses and how you can use these to your advantage. Most importantly, do not site your school where there are popular schools. Explore the developing areas in the city where you want to site your school, if you cannot build, rent a whole building. You may start by offering good but cheap education.
Another thing is the quality of the teachers you are using. Teachers make schools, not the building. Even if your school is under a tree, with good teachers, you will get more children than schools in a better environment. And never owe your teachers. Once you begin to owe them, the standard will begin to fall as their zeal will depreciate. You can be sure that the parent of one student will propel another parent to bring his child.
You must know how to approach issues in teaching students, as it has been proved that a lot of the methods being taught in the universities and colleges of education are not applicable.
Cost and potential earning
What you charge as fee depends on the quality of the teachers you employed, the facilities available, and the value you placed on your services and your strategy which may gear towards offering cheap but qualitative education to get more students.
People must see that you are committed to school business and must make the facilities available. If the facilities are not yet on ground, they must be sure that you are going to make them available.
You are sure of getting money three times in a year as parents pay per term. You are sure of earning millions of naira from school business. But making money must not be the primary thing. Also note that you don’t divert school money, because as soon as you start diverting it, you will begin to owe your teachers, which may result in the falling standard of your educational services and finally kill your school. School is a living venture, if you don’t feed it, it dies.
Reputation and marketing
Good teachers and your creativity are the most potent marketing tools for you. These will endear your school to parents. But these do not undermine the place of advertisement in boosting patronage in every business.
The first step is to go to the Ministry of Education in the state where you want to site your school to obtain form. It is between N10,000 to N15,000 depending on the charges of the government of the state where you want to site your school. Then name the school, make provision for the necessary facilities and get enough money to pay the salaries of your teachers for the first term.
Research and planning
Do a considerable research about the standard of schools around where you want to site your school to know their strengths and weaknesses and how you can use these to your advantage. Most importantly, do not site your school where there are popular schools. Explore the developing areas in the city where you want to site your school, if you cannot build, rent a whole building. You may start by offering good but cheap education.
Another thing is the quality of the teachers you are using. Teachers make schools, not the building. Even if your school is under a tree, with good teachers, you will get more children than schools in a better environment. And never owe your teachers. Once you begin to owe them, the standard will begin to fall as their zeal will depreciate. You can be sure that the parent of one student will propel another parent to bring his child.
You must know how to approach issues in teaching students, as it has been proved that a lot of the methods being taught in the universities and colleges of education are not applicable.
Cost and potential earning
What you charge as fee depends on the quality of the teachers you employed, the facilities available, and the value you placed on your services and your strategy which may gear towards offering cheap but qualitative education to get more students.
People must see that you are committed to school business and must make the facilities available. If the facilities are not yet on ground, they must be sure that you are going to make them available.
You are sure of getting money three times in a year as parents pay per term. You are sure of earning millions of naira from school business. But making money must not be the primary thing. Also note that you don’t divert school money, because as soon as you start diverting it, you will begin to owe your teachers, which may result in the falling standard of your educational services and finally kill your school. School is a living venture, if you don’t feed it, it dies.
Reputation and marketing
Good teachers and your creativity are the most potent marketing tools for you. These will endear your school to parents. But these do not undermine the place of advertisement in boosting patronage in every business.
LAOLU Aladesemipe, proprietor of Calvary Group of Schools, Felele, Ibadan, is a great motivation to whoever may want to invest in school business.The B.Tech graduate of Bio-Chemistry from the University of Ibadan, ventured into school business out of frustration of being unemployed. He started his school business in a borrowed shop. Though without money, he had a keen passion for children.
“I started Calvary Group of Schools in 1998 with a child in a borrowed shop (where they now sell charcoal), opposite Splash F.M, at Felele Straight.
Later, I employed more hands to start a continuing education centre, preparing students for external examinations. It was from that I discovered the laxity in these children, who attended public schools. This made me start a cheap private secondary school in 2000.
“I was able to convince the teachers who I employed for the continuing educational centre alongside myself to start the secondary school. The level they established served as a yardstick for any teacher we employ in the school.
“I started the secondary school with 16 students and six teachers. After a year the student population grew to 40 and the teachers’ to nine, including myself taking Mathematics and Chemistry. I taught until the student population grew to about 250 and the school’s principal then, Mrs Ajetunmobi, sacked me and employed a Chemistry teacher.
Now we have about 150 teachers. Most of the students that finished from Calvary Group of Schools, now lawyers, doctor, et al, will tell you ‘Uncle Laolu taught me Mathematics and Chemistry.’
“When I wanted to start a primary school in 2004, I did a research, went on the internet and browsed through the profile of 3,000 schools in the United Kingdom, to set a standard. Then we kicked off with 80 students.
“Parents must have seen something before they could bring their children to the school. I think what they saw was the quality of teachers we have, our hard work, diligence and creativity. Five years after we started Calvary Group of schools, we did not have signboard, yet the student population continued to grow.
“It used to be only me with a child in a borrowed shop, but just about 13 years after, we have over 150 teachers, four primary schools and one secondary school.
“My creativity made me start Friday wears in 2003, which virtually every school in Ibadan has now subscribed to. We started Goggles Day to protect the students’ eyes, which is also being adopted by other schools,” Aladesemipe explained.
- Written by Olaoluwa Mimiola
- Source: Tribune
It has always been my dream to start a school, but my problems are finance and location. If not for my passion that still keeps the dream alive, i will have totally forgotten about it.
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