School's Prospectus: Who Reads it Anyway?
When you gain admission to a secondary school in Nigeria, the school authorities tend to load parents and students with a lot of information. The school's prospectus is one of the books they hand to you that's literally loaded with tons of information.
The official definition of the prospectus is "a book or document that provides information about a school, business, etc." Of course in our case, it's for a school.
So, what sort of information is written in a prospectus? Well, I'm glad you asked. Here's a little list:
- School song (Pro Unitate, Floreat Collegium, etc)
- School's History
- Official names of school buildings and the history and purpose of each (e.g. gymnasium)
- Provisions, Clothing and other things needed for boarding school (if the school is a boarding school)
- Books and Book store information
- School Uniform and House wear (for boarders) and where to buy them (or if you need to hire a tailor to sew them)
- Important Staff Members (e.g. Principal, Vice-Principal, etc)
- National Anthem and Pledge (in case you didn't learn them in primary school)
- School houses (Hadeija house, Danfodio house, etc), sports teams, activities (e.g. Interhouse Sports)
- Rules
Either way, that information is available.
But who reads this stuff anyway? Do students really read the information in the prospectus if they don't have to? My guess is No, unless maybe their parents or teachers make them do it. Or if the school requires it so they can maybe learn the school song. That sort of thing.
Plus, some prospectuses are outdated. Mine was, and we're talking about the '90s. Same with the prospectus of some other federal government girls' colleges I knew back then. There was a school prospectus which recommended that parents give their children 100 naira for the entire school term for pocket money (for boarders).
100 naira?! Can you believe it? When some day students were bringing 100 naira to school for lunch money every single day. In the same school.
Regardless of who reads it, I think it's still a relevant point of introduction to a school's philosophy and culture. A student will have 6 years (give or take) to learn all the other stuff that is never included in the prospectus (e.g. the 8 Useful things Boarding School will Teach you).
What was your school prospectus like? Did you even read it? Please share.
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Apart from acting as a guideline for students , parents and teachers of the school to follow, I also think schools have prospectus to cover their own asses, so people won't say they didn't know this or that was a rule in the school. I also agree with you that they should be updated. N100 for a whole term as pocket money? And yes... I read my school prospectus.
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