Chief Press Secretary to the Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Rafiu Ajakaye, has bagged the highest award from the Platforms Montessori School, Ota, for his commitment and dedication towards the rescusitation of Qur’an reading culture among primary school-age Muslims.
Ajakaye, an intellectual with passion for education of children, received the Award plaque from Chairman, Parents Teachers’ Forum (PTF) of the Platforms Montessori School, Ota, Ogun State, Phamacist Ashimiyu Bolatito Olayiwola, during the first Walimot-ul-Qur’an and Prize-Giving Day of the school.
Pouring eulogy on the Award winner, Olayiwola, a senior pharmaceutical staff with the Lagos State Government, tasked other well meaning Muslims to emulate the virtues, which the management of the school, located in Ogun State, sighted in Ajakaye in far away Kwara state before honouring him.
The school, founded on the principle of sound British and Islamic Curricula, graduated five pupils with mastery of Qur’an recitation. They are; Rofeequr Adeola-Yusuf; Mazeedah Badmus; and Shukroh Anthony.
Others are Zainab Aderibigbe and Muzeedatulkhaer Ogunbiyi.
Ajakaye, in a reaction to the recognition, tasked Muslims parents to resuscitate the culture of Qur’an recitation in their children.
“One of the key requirements for better living is sound understanding of the words of Allah, the Holy Qur’an. So, what we are witnessing today at this school is a sign that we still have people who are deepely interested in training children that will be sound in both British and Islamic curricula.
“The timetable for most, if not all, of the pupils in primary schools now is designed in a way that, if proper care is not taken, the Culture of Qur’an recitation may wane totally in our society. A Muslim child who we send to a standard school will finish by 4 pm daily. He or she will, soon after that, be loaded with heaps of home works. Some of them will sleep off while trying to do the homework. Where, then, is the time to go to Modrasa?”, he inquired.
“My advice to parents is that we should all resuscitate the culture of Qur’an recitation in all our children by sending them to schools that operate on quality British and Islamic curricula.
“Therefore what the Proprietor of Platforms Montessori School, Hajjia Fateemah Adeola-Yusuf, is doing by including Qur’an classes in the timetable is a great effort at placing our children and society on strong pedestal of morality and sound academics,” he concluded.
Hajjia Adeola-Yusuf added that Muslims should also become partakers in the revival and preservation of a dying legacy of Islam, the mastery of recitation of the Holy Qur’an, as part of the necessary steps at ensuring a society peopled by learned and righteous individuals.
