Hello friends, sure you are doing well today. It is a great day for me when I see before me the best of opportunities to cause a change in the lives of our children.
Today, I will bring to conclusion the 8th fact to consider before you register your child in a school: consider the working conditions of service of the academic and non-academic staff. Having discussed remunerations and benefits, I think I should consider the environment of work. The first thing you must watch out for is the freedom of the workforce to be all that they can be. Are the teachers allowed to have their say even if they do not have their way? Is there a defined mechanism within the school system? Freedom of expression must be a cardinal principle of operation of any meaningful institution of learning.

Please note that one of the greatest gifts a child will leave an institution of learning with is his/her freedom of expression. Freedom of expression is not taught it is modelled by people and environment. The child is going to take after the prevalent environment. It is called socialisation. Environment is superior to rules. An institution, which is serious about freedom, will create an environment for it. The truth is that one of the entities, which leaders are afraid to liberate is the minds of the people. Until a leader becomes very secure in himself/herself, he/she will not allow the people to express the liberty their individuality deserves.

Freedom of expression is suppressed by charging an environment with fear. Fear and freedom do not co-exit. When fear takes total charge, it also takes away the presence of love. Without love, education is impossible.

Let me conclude by saying that when the conditions of service are not conducive, it creates instability. Instability will create a high staff turnover and this portends great danger for continuity in education of our children. I invite you to please think about these things. May God give us wisdom in all these. Do have an INSPIRED weekend.