It was only when the crisis started that the school decided to give them bags of pure water from the factory. Queen Ethelburga's: Award-winning UK Independent Unfortunately, on February 21, when the surgery was performed and she was wheeled back from the theatre and returned to the ward, Bithia could no longer speak coherently after regaining consciousness. No charges have been brought and Mr Martin has been released on bail while police inquiries continue. Founded on October 10, 1927 during the colonial era, Queens College, the oldest girls-only public school in the country owned by thefederal government, was set up to complement Kings College which had been set up eighteen years earlier in 1909 for boys. In this special investigation into the deaths of three students of Queens College, Lagos Vivian Osuinyi, Bithia Itulua and Praise Sodipo between February and March 2017, OFEMI KOLAWOLE unearths the history of rot, negligence, corruption and regulatory failure that prepared the way for the tragedy. King's Theatre His statement said: By moving under-performing pupils into the faculty and moving out performing faculty students into the college, theoretically the school can always claim to be UK top number one in the North regardless of their actual academic performance.. She is said to be into education consultancy after her retirement. A college whose students once upon a time had the best results in the West African Senior Secondary School Examinations has since lost its torch. It was completelyabandoned. But why are people so wicked, sacrificing the lives of promising children for personal gains. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google, This website and its associated newspaper are members of Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). It was wrong of her. As a way out, the former principal immediately started an underground campaign against them aimed at clipping heir wings. WebQueen Ethelburga's College is at Thorpe Underwood, between Harrogate and York A former chair of governors at a private school has been cleared of a series of historical A parent that was once caught attempting to take photographs was rough-handled by a member of staff. She was an exceptional student and was already on her way to achieving this before her untimely death. She was 12 years, fivemonths and twoweeks old. SMS and WhatsApp messages were sent to her, explaining that there were a few questions to ask her concerning the deaths at Queens College. 'He's been dead for 130 years and can still satisfy the ladies': Social media goes wild over mystery woman Cancelled? The present situation where students pay close to one hundred thousand naira (N100,000) by way of various levies in a school that is tuition-free is absurd and unimaginable, they complained. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); My salary is N942,000 monthly I dont get allowance, says Ngige, Buhari: Fair economic structure, equal opportunities essential for development, Akpabio: Ill be an uncommon transformer if Im senate president, God will not allow it Ganduje speaks on plan to review Sanusis dethronement, Obaseki: FG may not be able to pay workers beyond June | Itll either remove subsidy or print money, He enjoys support across parties group asks APC to back Betara for speaker, Kenneth Okonkwo: No crisis in LP | Apapa-led faction not worthy to be mentioned, Kenyan authorities begin autopsies of starvation cult deaths, School management ignored concerned parents alarm and old students warnings on contaminated water sources and looming epidemic, Students deaths could have been prevented had then school principal, Lami Amodu, acted on time, A former principal got a parting gift of N3m from QC PTA, Officials of federal ministry of education refused to act despite being aware of rot in the college, Amodu, education ministry fail to respond to allegations, Why all those found wanting in the unfortunate saga must be brought to justice. What do you want us to do? kissing or queue jumping).. Additionally, some concerned parents who had set up a WhatsApp group as a platform to interact and discuss matters of mutual interests as Queens College parents were also ordered by the management to close the platform or risk their children being expelled from the school. Its first principal was Miss Faith Wordsworth, a European. A number of parents today disagree with the former PTA chairman on her financial stewardship especially John Ofobike, her successor as PTA chairman, and Julie Mann, her own vice chair who served during her tenure. The deathscould have been averted had she acted on time to address the decaying infrastructure in the school, especially in the hostels where parents were even barred from visiting their daughters. Video, On board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry, Met Gala 2023: Stars celebrate Karl Lagerfeld, Shooting suspect was deported four times - US media, Yellen warns US could run out of cash in a month, Photo of Princess Charlotte shared as she turns 8, King Charles to wear golden robes for Coronation, More than 100 police hurt in French May Day protests, Explosion derails train in Russian border region. Thorpe Underwood Hall, dating from 1912, stands close to the site of the old Thorpe Green Hall, which had been destroyed by fire at the end of the 19th century, and which is remembered now for its connection to the Bronte family. Others had even married. Is climate change killing Australian wine? The medical personnel at the sickbay would later release Vivian to her to take home for further care after they had explained that the young girl only needed to complete her three-day antimalarial treatment. This is aside the severe overpopulation in the dormitories with up to about 86 students congested in a space not more than 24 by 16 feet. This was despite the fact that the lunch was supposed to be served between 2:50 and 3:30pm. Please note: Data provided by the Independent Schools Council (ISC). Generally pays well. However, she made the payment from the money parents had contributed to run a fresh school term by our incoming exco. And others didnt want their children to be targets of persecution by Oshifalas sympathisers or the school management. A week later, Bithias death occurred on February 22. The situation was so bad that the clinic was filled up completely. Praise was in Primary 3 at the time. Lord have mercy! In written evidence to the court Dr Zhou claimed Queen Ethelburgas had inaccurately described itself as the UKs top performing school in the North. Queen Ethelburga's 'It was due to his success as a businessman that he was able to purchase Queen Ethelburga's School which he moved from Harrogate to the Thorpe Underwood Estate where he lived with his family. Hundreds of images of naked women and North Yorkshire Police said no charges had been brought. The circular was just what Amodu was looking for. Mrs. Beatrice, too bad. Interestingly, while old students, the world over, are being encouraged to return to their former schools and render every support they can, Nigerias federal ministry of education is forbidding them from doing so. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, Queen Ethelburgas School in North Yorkshire denies the devices were put in to monitorminor disciplinary breaches, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. 7. On February 11, four days before she passed on, the medical team at her schools sickbay had called her parents on phone to inform them their daughter was sick. The negligence by the school management to respond to complaints and years of decadence and rot of facilities in the college as well as the failure of officials of the federal ministry of education in Abuja in effectively and efficiently performing their regulatory and oversight functions over unity schools in the countryapparently resulted in the tragic deaths of the three girls. Did you know with a Digital subscription to Yorkshire Post, you can get access to all of our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Akhetuamen, a close ally of the former principal, gave her a controversial parting gift of N3 million on behalf of Queens College PTA. Therefore, rather than an improvement on her arrival at Queens College, things only deteriorated under Amodu. Read about our approach to external linking. Still, Amodu refused to give parents any hint that such was the colleges reality. 'The courage and conviction behind their evidence has led to Brian Martin being publicly exposed as the predatory paedophile that he really is. Bithias kid sister, Jemimah, who just secured an admission to the Queens College, also informed TheCable that her elder sister wanted to become an astronaut and equally create inventions. The UK boarding school identity crisis Two years later, she also lost her mother, Banke, a business woman. We shouldnt wait until theirs a casualty to do the needful. They were afraid of being victimised. Some of the illegal fees and levies imposed on students by the schools PTA/school management, as highlighted in a January 7, 2015 petition by a group of concerned parents to the education ministry through their lawyers, Kenneth Aigbe & Co, included: N89,500 building levy imposed on new students admitted during the 2014/2015 academic session, duplication of maintenance and medical bills by the PTA and school management, CISCO levies without the services being provided to students, another special levy of N5,000 per term for each student, a mandatory payment of N2,000 extra lesson fee, and another N5,000 per student for Skool Media. He claimed it could be the the biggest scandal in British education history. Fee-paying Yorkshire school battles scandal claims of Both schools were established for the instruction of children of the elite. A CCTV camera inside school compound but who watches the authorities? 'The school was supposed to be a safe place for the victims, and they should have been able to trust all adults and staff at the school. Disaster was just a ticking bomb waiting to happen. Unfortunately, the school, over the years, has been losing its allure and shine. She accused them of unjustly hating her and trying to replace her with someone from within their ranks. Ladipo is now dead. Your comment..i believed that all the people mentioned in this murdering of our girls children of Oueens were all true ,even before the PTA chairwoman was elected she vow to be better than the men that held the position ,but on getting there she became more like semi god herself N pqc osime,because both of them has the backing of military general behind them as their husband, Im sure they will not go unpunished all of them with their husband, childrens, N family, including properties aquired through falsehood God shall deal with them in Jesus name they shall die a painful death by heavenly storm fire. Queen Ethelburga's Anybody that has any sense about the way things work here would know that, definitely, the sex scandal involving Oshifala was swept under the carpet to the detriment of the student because there was too much of a mess that involved the ministry itself. WebCrime Owner of York boarding school Queen Ethelburga's jailed for historical sexual abuse of pupils The owner of a boarding school near York who preyed on vulnerable students And even when a Good Samaritan medical officer who saw the seriousness of her case went out of her way to create one for Bithia, the absence of a paediatric surgeon at the hospital would eventually lead to her transfer to General Hospital Randle, Surulere. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? St Paul's School. He then stunned parents by mothballing the building and moving the pupils into a new school on his own country estate at Thorpe Underwood Hall, Ouseburn, near York. Of the 3m handed to you as pseudo-gratuity, how much is left? She further explained that she left only N1,571,000 in the schools PTA account because she had to pay outstanding to contractors who handled a new hostel building completed by her administration as it would not be right to pass the debt on to her successor. A sorry dormitory out of bound to even the girls mothers. However, the biggest culprit might be the ministry of education and its officials, a number of whom might have compromised. In 2014, 2015 and 2016, Queens College was not amongthe best performing schools, according to results released by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC). In view of the foregoing henceforth, the child/ward of any parent/guardian found to be using the social media to spread false and negative information or incite other parents, will be withdrawn from the College. It announced to students that it was shutting down the water source as it was contaminated. Again, while the parents expected to hear what other steps she planned to take towards controlling the epidemic, Amodu announced to the gathering that she had warned students and staff never to call parents when children were sick in the college. EXCLUSIVE Boss of Lib-Dem run South Cambridgeshire council which was first to introduce a four-day week is From being born a man to Queen of the Mountains: Trans cyclist romps to victory in elite women's race - Traumatised mother, 27, was 'treated like a criminal' after being investigated for child abuse over tiny Do not sell or share my personal information.
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