Sixteen universities in the United Kingdom under the umbrella of the Northern Consortium of United Kingdom Universities (NCUK) have visited Abuja, expressing their willingness to continue facilitating Nigerian students’ quest for qualitative education in the UK and beyond.
They offered various types of scholarships and cut their fees by half in a bid to fulfill the continuation of their over five-year partnership with Brookstone Schools which had culminated in the Brookstone International Foundation Centres in both Port Harcourt and Abuja.
Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Education, Hon. Zakari Mohammed attended the event where the UK visitors met their hosts. Also present were students from various schools including Olamawu Schools and officials of the Quality Assurance Department in the Ministry of Education.
Representatives of the NCUK member Institutions which included Universities of Aston, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Huddersfield, Kent, Kingston, Leeds and Manchester, Salford and Sheffield were equally present.
Mohammed while speaking noted that the collaboration by the NCUK and Brookstone has given unprecedented opportunities to Nigerian students to study in various schools in the United Kingdom and beyond.
According to him, the information that NCUK collaborates with some universities in Ireland, Australia and North America and give exclusive scholarships for Abuja students is good news for parents wanting qualitative education for their children.
He however said the fact that Brookstone has won the global awards as the best International Foundation Year Centre twice in a row shows that contrary to the belief that the quality of education is on the decline in Nigeria, educational pacesetters abound in the country if given the right incentives and facilities.
Mohammed described the awards by Brookstone as a pride to Nigeria, adding that it has put the country on the world educational spotlight.
Speaking on the advantage of studying in the NCUK Brookstone Centre, the Market Development Manager, Mr. Andrew Straughan said the International Foundation Year will offer students easy access and admission to any of the NCUK universities in the UK and other countries.
He said NCUK is a unique consortium of universities “In Nigeria we have helped over 30,000 international students gain access to university education in Uk. Of those over 9,000 are from Nigeria. The unique opportunity with Brookstone is that you can stay in Nigeria for one year before going to the UK to complete your university studies.
Ninety-nine percent of NCUK Students get their visas, he said, adding that over 4,000 degrees are available in the NCUK
“Brookestone will provide students with the highest quality of teaching and experience which will help ensure that students feel prepared to succeed once they start on their degree programme.
The Chairman of the Board of Governors, Brookstone School , Mr. Kalada Apiafi noted that at the 2017 annual partners awards ceremony ( which was Also the 30th anniversary celebration of NCUK on the 22nd of November, 2017 in Manchester, United Kingdom, “Brookstone School won the Best Academic Global Award for the second consecutive year.
“Brookstone also won the ‘NCUK University Admissions Award’ and was runner up ‘ Excellence in Student Counselling’
“Brookstone won all these awards out of 56 NCUK Centres spread across the world. In 2016 NCUK had 35 Centres and by 2017 the Centres increased to 56 with more Centres being opened around the world.
In 2016, Brookstone International Foundation School had won “Best Academic Global Award” out of 35 NCUK Centres across the world beating countries like China, Malaysia, Canada, Thailand, Japan, United Kingdom and Ireland.
“The NCUK prize award is an attestation to the high academic standard at Brookstone International Foundation School,” Apiafi said.
