UPDATE ON VIRAL SOCIAL MEDIA VIDEO AT QUEEN’S COLLEGE SCHOOL GATE ON NOVEMBER 18 2019

Following the incident that occurred on Monday 18th November 2019 in which a video recording of an altercation between a parent and security guards of Queen’s College went viral, the President and General Secretary of QCOGA visited the school on Wednesday, Nov 20 2019, on a fact-finding exercise and to offer advice on the way forward, where necessary.

We got the full cooperation of the school authorities, the affected student and all others invited to present their statements.

We note the following from our observations:

1. The school’s disciplinary committee held hearings on the situation on Wednesday, Nov 20 2019. Written and verbal statements from the affected student, teaching and non-teaching staff as well as a parent that was a central actor, were obtained. We also directly sought clarifications were necessary.

2. The disciplinary committee is yet to conclude its sitting as its hearings were interrupted by a team from the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service who visited the school on a revenue drive and needed the attention of the school authorities

3. All parties involved were invited and participated in the hearing save for the Mother and Father of the student.

4. A delegation of the Lagos State Office of Education Quality Assurance also visited the school on Wednesday, November 20, 2019 on the directive of the Lagos State Commissioner of Education. They were given direct access to the staff, the student and documentation obtained. They also engaged the affected student directly and will be issuing their report soon for public circulation.

5. The perspective of the parents on this matter, will be facilitated by the PTA and we have been assured that their perspective will be communicated to us when this holds.

6. The facts we have gleaned on this situation from all parties are consistent and reinforce the need to gather facts before reaching conclusions.

7. Once we get the perspective of both Mother and Father, we will issue a statement on our findings and recommendations for next steps to the school authorities

The need to effectively manage the situation, better manage similar situations in the future. as well as the need for mentoring and counseling of all involved was stressed throughout our engagement with all parties.

Once again we urge members and interested persons to restrain from concluding on this issue just by watching the video alone. Please await official reports to be issued soon.

The primary focus of all stakeholders is to put the best interest of the student and the school in focus, while managing the fallouts.

We continue to appreciate the contributions made on how to manage this situation better in the future.

Please send feedback and recommendations by email to pqcoga@gmail.com

Thank you for your interest in and support to QC and QCOGA

Ayodele Onakoya
General Secretary