Education, they say, is the foundation for achieving great things. Little wonder my Leading Woman for this week is highly passionate not just about education but quality education.
Her parents were focused and nurtured her well, though they had very little. She has a vivid imagination which was stimulated by outdoor play and the books her parents and schools surrounded her with. A very happy childhood is what she tells me she had and the results still spark her imagination. Simple things like loving to read, a keen life-long learner and a very strong appreciation of family.
Catherine Bickersteth is my Leading Woman for this week. She is the co-director of Strategic Educational Advisory Services (SEAS) Ltd and Universities and Schools Admissions Services (USAS) Ltd. Both companies have successfully prepared, placed and continue to support students at various levels in top institutions in the UK and USA. SEAS and USAS also support schools in the holistic delivery of education. Currently, Bickersteth also represents African Leadership Academy in Anglophone West Africa.
Passionate about uplifting the less privileged, Bickersteth is a trustee of Hope4Girls and Development Africa (formerly FamilyCare Nigeria). She holds a B.Sc. in Economics, MSc. in Management Science, and is a British Council-certified education consultant. She also has a PGD in teaching English as a foreign language as well as various other certificates. Bickersteth has participated in the learning journey to Finland; Harvard Think Tank on 21st century education and the World Economic Forum (2013), among other education-focused initiatives. She is an affiliate member of the Association of Private Educators of Nigeria.
After careers with Citibank and the Department for International Development (DFID), Bickersteth established her own companies to provide services which support schools and enable students to excel anywhere in the world.
I ask her why she decided to set up her companies and she responds: “Six years ago, after a gym session, I received a prompting from the Holy Spirit to establish Strategic Educational Advisory Services (SEAS) to strategically nurture, from cradle to workforce, world-class intellect with a social conscience. This involves enlightening parents, teachers, school counsellors as well as advising, mentoring and tutoring students themselves. Ladun Omojokun is my PP (Precious Partner). Aside from the proof of neuroscience, I have had first-hand experience of the positive impact of quality early childhood education and subconsciously successfully adopted it as a lifestyle for my own daughters.”
She adds, “I had been advising parents and nurturing students for years without charge when a dear friend declared: ‘Catherine, I insist on paying you. If you were selling a tangible product you would run yourself out of business. You are short-changing yourself. Your intangible service is invaluable!’ SEAS recently joined forces with The Education Company to form Universities and Schools Admissions Services (USAS) to extend the placement services we offer in England to include legal services relating to education, guardianship, tutorials and other UK-based services.”
The educational system in Nigeria is in dire need of attention. To this Catherine agrees, adding, “I rate the Nigerian educational system, like many others (you see news reports of even America and Britain complaining about their systems), less than satisfactory. It can be improved by committed focused support of parents and other stakeholders. I truly believe ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ in the broadest sense of that philosophy. Society should respect, correctly recruit, train and pay teachers more; parents should imbibe the fact that children are God’s gift to them, schools/universities, corporations and NGOs should view students as potential employees, customers and influential members of society, and government should regularly engage a full complement of stakeholders (teachers, heads of schools, parents, government bodies, corporations, entrepreneurs and NGOs) in constructive dialogue.”
Catherine is highly passionate about the less privileged and she explains why. “My passion for the less privileged is drawn from the following fact that everyone needs compassion. My father was lifted out of poverty by his scholarship, my sister and I got an excellent secondary education through scholarship, my husband continued his education through scholarship…I can go on. Also, my DFID years opened my eyes to how achievable change is when different groups pull together to effect change. Currently, I am a trustee of Hope4Girls and Development Africa (formerly FamilyCare) and advisor of Bethesda Child Support Agency,” she tells me.
Catherine is poised to prepare, place and continue to support students at various levels in top institutions in the UK, the USA, and even Nigeria.
“Key to an outstanding education is early vision and adoption of a strategy,” she says. “At SEAS, we interview parents and students together and separately to set out the vision, holistically do a SWAT analysis and set SMART academic as well as extracurricular goals which we support students in achieving. We only focus on Nigeria, UK and USA because those are the places we have in-depth knowledge, experience of and backup. I am a British Council-certified educational advisor.”
There is more to education than meets the eyes. Catherine further elucidates on this. “It is important to teach children how to live as well and make a living. Critical pieces of the tapestry of life are early and continual spiritual and moral mentoring from early childhood into adulthood. Also, varied exposure to stimulate the brain and interests is another essential ingredient to raising a 21st century adult. This should be done through constructive nurturing of passion/talent to have impact; discussing local and global news; adopting a family charity/establishing social responsibility; taking children to the theatre, museums, work; having ‘aunties’ and ‘uncles’ showcase their professions/enterprises, etc, and finally, nurturing independent life-long learning is a crucial catalyst in education,” she explains.
Catherine represents African Leadership Academy (ALA) in Anglophone West Africa and she speaks on how she does this. “ALA is a life-long commitment to the nurturing of future leaders – no one graduates from ALA,” she says. “ALA nurturing is through the last two years of secondary school, through university to productive engagement in the development of the African continent. I encourage all students between 15-19 years old to apply to the three-week summer Global Scholars Programme, which is about studying Africa’s problems and taking the lead to find entrepreneurial solutions.” Asked to give her final words, Catherine brilliantly says, “The future of Nigeria lies in our hands as well as those of our children. We can become the African educational miracle of Singapore or Finland if critical stakeholders consult regularly and work efficiently to raise Future Leaders in all spheres of endeavour. We need to and can reverse the outflow of billions of dollars to educational institutions across the globe.
Mahatma Gandhi said: ‘Man becomes what he believes himself to be’. I truly believe Nigeria can become the Education Miracle of Africa. Together, with God, we can achieve this!”
KEMI AJUMOBI
