The Wunti Montessori Academy in Bauchi has said that it is poised to infuse the students and teachers with a sense of purpose, responsibility, and the drive to excel in all aspects of 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 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”.
He emphasised that it is also very important to find a cost-effective solution to running the academy efficiently while providing quality resources, leadership, and teaching within the institution.
Also speaking at the occasion, Muhammad Bashir Bala Wunti, director of the Wunti Al-Khair Foundation, assured that they are committed to bringing quality, holistic, and inclusive learning to Bauchi State, which would empower children and transform their community.
Bashir explained that they would stop at nothing to set a 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.
A’isha Bala Wunti, another director of the foundation, said that the academy has a vision to be a transformative, innovative and educational model, specifically built to fit the kind of culture, students, and environment that citizens have in Bauchi State.
Hajiya A’isha Bala Wunti explained that the stakeholder’s engagement is geared toward understanding not only the challenges of the academy but also the problems being faced by the students from the educational perspective.
“I know I am sure we lag 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.
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 that its doors are wide open for it to intervene and collaborate with the institution to ensure that quality education has not only been regained in all schools but also given to all the children of Bauchi State and the nation at large.
