i. Keep the history of your school alive. Let your teachers and students know the history of the school and its relevance to them and the immediate community. The history may be recent or ancient, perhaps the history may be fossilized in the name of the school, all the same, the history of the school must be kept alive.
ii. Honour and celebrate your alumni and those who contributed to the development of your institution. Name buildings (halls, classrooms, auditoriums, libraries etc) and gardens after them. The buildings become a living memory to the current students of what they could become in the future.
iii. Use your alumni to inspire the current students. Let them see what they could become with a little focus and dedication regardless of their family status.
iv. Establish an institution with a strong moral base. Train and instil in your learners a strong moral conscience. Such training will generate “good” leaders with a strong moral campus. There is nothing as dangerous as developing excellent minds with no moral campus or social etiquette.
v. Integrate academic education with a strong sense of vocational education. Fixing a broken pipe or a broken chair is critical skill needed in leading a meaningful life even for those who would not follow a vocational career.
vi. Have a multicultural school. The world has become rather small and diverse. Students need to be prepared to function in a multilingual and multicultural world. This will strengthen their confidence and make them more tolerant.
vii. Have some of the most passionate and committed school leaders and teachers in your institution. Many schools are in a bad state because of weak and poor leadership. Only choose exceptional school headmaster and don’t fear to fire mediocre ones. Teachers who come to the profession because there was nothing else to do, don’t belong in the classroom. They lack the necessary passion to inspire and motivate young minds. They give the teaching profession a bad and are responsible for high failures in schools. Therefore only keep the best teachers in your school.
viii. Link your institution with similar institutions locally and internationally. This could be through visits, exchanges or competitions. It is important for students, teachers and institutions to periodically measure themselves against those similar to them.
ix. Link the institutions with funding bodies that could offer bursaries or grants to students and the school. Such funding bodies could be local or international organisations or companies. There are many companies and organisations which are willing to channel their resources towards educational development. Additionally, school need to learn resource mobilization and how to be accountable to a different entity which could aid fund their activities such as Prize Giving days, educational trips, and school projects such as the building or renovation of halls and playgrounds.
x. Maintain the school buildings, both inside and outside, as well as the grounds, looking clean and attractive. Ensure that the gardens are taken care of and kept immaculate. Students and teachers are motivate to come to a school that is beautiful and clean. Maintaining high standards of cleanliness instils in the learners lifelong lessons of cleanliness, order a caring for the environment.
