FROM all indications, poverty has become one of the major challenges to human existence. And this can be attributed to factors such as  the problem of an increasing population,  without a corresponding increase in needed resources.

However, some have argued that bad as poverty in terms of income and resources is, poverty of the mind is  worse. According to them, it could ruin an individual’s  life. In this regard, education is the panacea for poverty of the mind. Education is the best legacy that one can ever give a child to redeem him or  her from the poverty of the mind.

In 1955, Obafemi Awolowo saw the need to confront the level of poverty among Nigerians, especially in the western part of the country, hence his introduction of the  free education policy in the then western region.  Today, the  impact of the programme in the lives of the people is obvious.

Similarly, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, even before he became the governor of Imo State, shared the late  Awolowo’s view on free education. Thus, his establishment of the Rochas Foundation Colleges, spread across the six geo-political zones in the country. His free education policy includes: free tuition, food, uniform, shoes, text books and other necessary materials that can boost  learning. To gain admission  into any of  the colleges, the candidate must either come from a very poor family background, or is being raised by a single parent. The admission is open to all African children who meet these conditions. There are five of these schools in the country.

During the week, Whizzkidz visited one of the colleges in the country, located in Ibadan, Oyo State, for the South-West zone, to guage the academic performance of  students in the college. Whizzkidz gathered that the college took off in Oyo State in 2005, with a promise to offer free and qualitative education to the poor people in the land.

One of the best students of the college, Master Sitsofe Kwami,  who graduated from the college with eight distinctions, spoke about the college and his academic experiences.

According to him, “I graduated from Shalom Christian Nursery and Primary School, Ibadan, before I proceeded to Rochas Foundation College for my secondary school education. My father, a Ghanaian, who is a missionary in Nigeria, got to know about the college through his friend.  We applied, and  having met all the admission conditions to be a student of the college,  I was offered the  admission,  though  I am not a Nigerian.”

Speaking about the college, he revealed that “Rochas Foundation College is a disciplined, and academically focused institution, designed for brilliant students from very poor background. The college has a zero-tolerance for failure and once a student fails the promotional examination, he or she will be sent out. That is the standard in the college.

Given this, failure is the greatest enemy of the students in the college. Hence, we take education very seriously in the college, in fact, our tuition fee is hard work — once a student can pay it, all other things will follow.”

He also spoke on how he prepared for the 2011 Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE)  in which he had eight distinctions,  the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) which he scored 285 and the post-UTME that earned him the admission to study Economics at the University of Ibadan.

“There is an effective reading formula which every student ought to know and apply  while doing their reading and studying. The reading formula is: SQ3R. Once a student can master  and apply them religiously, there is no way he, or she will not come out in flying colours in any examination he or she may  to sit for. I make bold to say that I owe my academic success to God and this reading formula.

“The S stands for survey, Q means questioning; and  the three Rs  stand for Reading, Recalling and Reviewing respectively. As a good reading student, one must create time to do a survey on his  subjects, read them, find time to recall what one has read, review them all over and always ask questions about the topics one seems not to understand and also  practice past questions.

“I must be frank with everybody that the formula has really helped me to excel right from the  junior classes and  up to my  final year in the college. I was always in the first position. In JS II, I was sent to America with other brilliant students by the proprietor, for few weeks in recognition of my academic performance in the college. We were 10 in number, including students from the other Rochas Colleges in the country.

“Interestingly, in academic success,  when one is burning the midnight oil nobody notices it, but when he comes out in flying colours, people  celebrate him. Indeed, to succeed academically, you will have to burn the  midnight candle,   be attentive in class and revise regularly.

“I want to thank  the proprietor of the college for the scholarship opportunity I  enjoyed in the college and also for the university scholarship he has given me as well as my other colleagues from his other colleges in the country,” he stated

Speaking in the same vein, the Principal of the College, Mr Alamu Timothy Oluleye, confirmed that the school is a special school designed for children from poor background. According to him, there is no room for lazy students in the college, with a population of about 800 students.

“Education at Rochas Foundation College is  free up  to the university level. About nine of our students are enjoying full scholarships in the  various universities in the South-West, while 64 of them from other Rochas Foundation Colleges are on full scholarships in various universities in the country. I want to attribute the success story of the college to God who gave the  proprietor the vision, the teachers and the parents for their understanding,” Kwami said.

 http://www.tribune.com.ng/sat/index.php/component/content/article/86-whizzkids/7404-my-examination-success-formula-by-ex-rochas-foundation-college-student.html