Adeola Adefemi
Adeola Adefemi is an award-winning teacher and facilitator who is passionate about promoting quality education for children, especially marginalized ones in her community. She currently teaches the English Language at Oke-Odo Senior High School, Alimosho.
Adeola Adefemi started her teaching career in a school labeled “low-performing,” following years of poor performance by students in external and regional examinations. As an innovative teacher, Adeola understood that extracurricular activities, after-school classes, and competitions can help to boost students’ academic performance. Thus, she launched the EVERY CHILD COUNTS campaign, creating subject-associated clubs that students joined based on their interests. To build confidence in her students, she also encouraged them to engage in inter-school, state, and national competitions after months of intensive training and mentorship. Within a year, Adeola’s school had won over 30 competitions, and in two years, the school won the African Top School Award for exceptional academic performance.
Adeola also launched the CHILD NOT BRIDE campaign to address the problems faced by the girl child in society. By using stage plays and poetry, she was able to effectively depict the dangers of these practices and emphasized the need for them to be stopped. The campaign also helped train girls in entrepreneurial skills that would help them sponsor themselves through college if other funding options were not available.
In a career spanning over nine years, Adeola’s students have won over 103 states, national and international competitions, including the Commonwealth Day Inter-School Competition, United Nations Poetry Competition, BRF Essay Competition (United Kingdom), Blooming Mind National Writing Competition, Teenage Festival of Life and the World Water Day Competition. Currently, the pass rate of her students has risen from 24% to 88%. Lots of them are on national and international scholarships, about six were allowed to travel to the United Kingdom on an educational tour for winning the Be Road-Friendly Essay Competition, while sixty students received commendation letters from the state government.
Adeola completed a bachelor’s degree from Olabisi Onabanjo University and other degrees/certifications from the University of Sussex and Saylor Academy. She is a Fullbright Fellow, a Certified Microsoft Innovative Educator, and a member of the Young African Leader Initiative (YALI).
In recognition of her efforts in education, Adeola has received numerous awards including Outstanding Teacher of the Year 2019, Maltina That One Teacher 2019, JCI Outstanding Young Person in Nigeria 2019, Ten Young Persons in Nigeria 2019, Lockdown Teacher 2020, Fulbright Teaching Excellence and Achievement Award 2020, Lagos State Best Teacher 2021, and most recently, on the 2022 World Teachers’ Day, she was announced as The Best Teacher In Nigeria.
We celebrate Adeola for her efforts in ensuring quality education for the next generation.