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History
IQRA College was established in October 2002 in response
to the demand by parents for the unique educational programme
offered by IQRA
Nursery /Primary school. The Nursery/ Primary school had
been established two years earlier as an experiment in fashioning
a unique curriculum for Muslim children in Nigeria. The experiment
was simply to combine and place equal emphasis on mainstream
(western) and Islamic education. The outcome pleasantly surprised
even the most optimistic believers in the experiment, and
much its critics.
Success was recorded in the Primary
School from the beginning! Parents observed and reported
improved behaviour, commitment to worship of Allah, memorisation
of the Qur’an and dutifulness among other positive traits
in their children, just weeks after enrolling in the school.
But then there was the litmus test. How well would the school
perform in public examinations? It was decided as a matter
of strategy that pupils will first be presented for public
examination when in Primary five so that the School could
correct any lapses that might be observed before they were
again presented for the same examination in primary six. Then
the surprise came: all the students passed the National
Examination Council (NECO) National Common Entrance Examination
at their first attempt in Primary Five!
Having passed National Common Entrance Examinations,
the pupils pressurized their parents that they would prefer
to enroll in secondary schools. Parents, having realized that
it was possible to achieve outstanding success in western
education and yet have sound Islamic education as well as
be morally upright, exerted pressure that the proprietors
of IQRA
Nursery/ Primary School should immediately establish a
secondary school. But circumstances led to a review of the
time frame in the original plan. Thus, IQRA
College was established a year ahead of schedule.
IQRA College was
born into a challenge. Parents who demanded its establishment
had a clear idea of what they wanted. They looked forward
to a school that would give their children impeccably sound
conventional (Western) education, nurture their spiritual
growth and make them have high integrity. They saw it as the
school of their dream to do all these. By admitting their
children, it became a challenge that IQRA
College should do all these and much more. The proprietors
renewed their commitment to the provision of balanced education
so that their students would mature into ideal citizens who
will facilitate the emergence of a just, progressive and egalitarian
Nigeria. Furthermore, the proprietors were aware the onerous
task of nurturing the college to success to convince the world
that the success for their experiment at the primary school
level was not just a fluke.
IQRA College Now
Alhamdulillah. Today IQRA College
is another success story! All parents who have children at
the college can bear testimony that their children are more
upright and are better Muslims already showing positive leadership
traits as a result of their enrolment at IQRA
College. And again the college has passed the litmus
test. When the pioneer students, were presented for NECO’s
Junior secondary Certificate Examination (JSCE), they ALL
PASSED at the very first attempt. And this was achieved without
a single incidence of examination malpractice. Thus, we are
making remarkable progress in our quest to achieve academic
excellence and moral uprightness for all students at IQRA
College.
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