Queen's College, Lagos, is a government-owned girls' secondary (high) school with boarding facilities, situated in Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria. Often referred to as the "sister college" of King's College, Lagos, it was founded on October 10, 1927, when Nigeria was still a British colony.[1]
Nigeria has a 6-3-3-4 system of education. Queen's College takes the secondary pupils in the middle two phases. There are six year groups, or grades; each year group contains about 600 students divided into several arms. Recently, class sizes are an average of 55 per class. The total population for the 2022/2023 session was 3505 students.
The school has returned the best results nationwide in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) seven times since 1985 and is widely considered to be one of the top schools in Nigeria, and one of the top girls' schools on the African continent.[2][3] The Queen's College motto is "Pass On The Torch".[4]
History
Queen's College was established on October 10, 1927, with an enrolment of 20 students, a Principal and eight part-time teachers. Sylvia Leith-Ross was appointed "Lady Superintendent of Education" in 1925[5] and she helped to establish Queen's College as a girls' boarding school.[6]
Queen's College has grown to a population 3000 students, and a staff strength of well over 300 full-time teachers.
Queen's College has provided education for girls in Nigeria - creating equal gender opportunities for them in professional fields. Girls are given the opportunity to pursue courses in the Sciences, Medicine, Engineering, Law, Architecture, the Arts, etc.[7]
Though originally established in 1927, Queen's College is now one of 104 unity schools in Nigeria managed by the federal government to bring together children from different geographic, ethnic, and socio-economic backgrounds to build Nigeria's future, especially in the aftermath of the Biafran War.[8]
Structure
The school operates at two levels: junior and senior school. The lowest forms, JS I to JS III, make up the junior school. Students in those forms study for the Junior School Certificate Examination conducted by the National Examination Council (NECO) and taken at the end of their third year. The Senior School Examination is the goal of the students in the upper forms.
Two examination bodies – West African Examinations Council and National Examinations Council – are each empowered to conduct separately the end-of-course examination and students are to enter for both examinations.
The senior and junior schools are distinct in their operations. Each stream of JS 1 through SS 3 has about eleven classrooms with varying numbers of students.
For management of both sections, the school is headed by the principal, designated PQC (Principal Queen's College) who is assisted by six vice principals:
The Vice Principal Administration
The Vice Principal Special Duties
The Vice Principal Academics 1
The Vice Principal Academics 2
The Vice Principal Student Affairs 1
The Vice Principal Student Affairs 2
Curriculum
The curriculum of the school covers Science, Social Science, Arts -and vocational subjects as well as co-curricular activities. In line with the 6-3-3 4 system of education, the scope has been enlarged to give a broad-based education with subjects that can lead to courses in tertiary institutions. Staff and twelve Guidance Counselors are available to assist students in learning, in their choice of career, social adjustment, as well as their welfare.
Subjects offered in both Junior and Senior schools are:
English Language, Literature-in-English, History
Mathematics, Further mathematics
Social Studies, Geography
Integrated Science (Biology, Chemistry and Physics)
French Language
Business Studies, Economics, Commerce, Accounting
Introductory Technology
Christian Religious Studies/Islamic Religious Studies
Nigerian language - Yoruba/Hausa/Igbo Languages
Agric/PHE
Arabic
Music/Fine art
Home Economics
Typewriting
Computer Studies
Government
Trading
Insurance/Book -keeping
Home economics/Food And Nutrition/Clothing And Textile.
The girls are involved in games and sports. The annual inter-house sports competition is usually held during the second term of the academic session.
The school has six houses that compete in the inter-house games, namely Dan-Fodio (Red House), Obasa (Blue House), Obi (Yellow House), Emotan (Green House), Efunjoke (Purple House) and Obong (Orange House).
Principals
Miss F. Wordsworth (later Mrs. Tolfree) - 1927 to 1930
Mrs. I. E. Coker - 1963 to 1977 (First Nigerian principal of Queen's college)
Mrs. T. E. Chukwuma - 1978 to 1982
Mrs.A.A Kafaru - 1982 to 1986.
Mrs. J. E. Ejueyitche - 1986 to 1987
Mrs. J. Namme - 1987 to 1991
Mrs. H. E. G. Marinho - 1991 to 1996
Mrs. M. T.F. Sojinrin - 1996 to 2001
Mrs. O. O. Euler-Ajayi - 2001 to 2004
Mrs. M. B. Abolade - 2004 to 2006
Mrs. O. Togonu-Bickersteth - 2006 to 2008
Mrs. A. C. Onimole - 2008 to 2010
Mrs. A. Ogunnaike - 2010 to 2011
Mrs. M. O. A. Ladipo - 2011 - 2012
Mrs E. M. Osime - 2012 - 2015
Dr Mrs Lami Amodu - 2015 - 2017
Mrs B. A. Are - 2017 - 2018
Dr Mrs Oyinloye Yakubu - 2018 - 2022
Dr. Mrs. A. O. Obabori - 2022 till date
Notable alumni
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(November 2024)
Dr. Florence Adeniran, née Martins, LRCP (Lond.) MRCS (Eng.) MPH (Mich.), consultant, surgeon, public health specialist and medical practitioner, youngest student in Queen's College, enrolling at the age of 9 in January 1940, became a pioneer member of the foundation year at the then University College Ibadan (established 1948) at the age of 18, and made history as the first female doctor to graduate (with a University of London degree) from a Nigerian university, being the sole female in medical school at that time, first female Director of a Nigerian Health Management Board, Director of Medical Services, Lagos State Hospitals Management Board (1986), president of the Medical Women's Association of Nigeria (MWAN), 1985-1987.