Comprehensive High School, Aiyetoro


Comprehensive High School is a secondary school in Ayetoro, a district in the Egbado Division of Ogun State, South Western Nigeria.

History

Just after Nigeria attained independence in 1960, the authorities began to consider the problem of manpower needs and the desirability of having a secondary school system more closely related to such needs.
A nationwide review of the secondary school system was undertaken, arising from both direct initiative and external advice. Sixth form work in science subjects was given top priority together with the introduction of technical streams at the school-certificate level.
The then Western Region government, with external assistance from USAID who provided staffing resources and Ford Foundation, established Comprehensive High School Aiyetoro in February 1963. It was a US Senator from New Jersey who proposed the establishment of Comprehensive High Schools in Nigeria and Kenya as a gateway of US influence in Africa. It was the product of US international diplomacy through Educational AID and the PEACE Corpse of the JFK Administration. The physical project was given to USAID to execute and to administer for the first five years, while the academic staffing and curriculum activities were given to Harvard University with counterpart matching staff from the Western Nigeria educational ministry. Comprehensive High School Aiyetoro quickly became a "Model School" in Nigeria and in the beginning years, many secondary schools would organize a short excursion visit to look at and to get a feel of the school on weekends. It was the first school in Nigeria to have one thousand or more students. It comprised Junior School starting at Form One and the Higher School of just 60 students, starting at the Lower Sixth Form and finishing with the Upper Sixth; and taking the Cambridge University Higher School Certificate Exam for University Admission. Hence Comprehensive High School Aiyetoro started with a duality educational system, whereby the sixth form followed the existing British System and Curriculum, while the Junior School followed the American System and Curriculum, and very notably in the "Modern Mathematics" curriculum. However, after few years the plan of the American SAT exams as the terminal exam for the Junior school had to be changed to WAEC. Hence curriculum changes and additional tutoring classes had to be provided to the first students to get to form four and five.
The school was the second Comprehensive School in the country, after Government Comprehensive Secondary School, Port Harcourt, which was founded in 1962 through the collaboration of the then Eastern Nigeria Government and USAID, with its foundation instructors coming from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Comprehensive High School, Aiyetoro is situated on a 171-hectare land, 37 kilometers west of Abeokuta; it was founded as an experiment based on the philosophy proposed by the now belated founders, the Dr. Adam Skapski, Chief B. Somade, Judson T. Shaplin and John Monro “Champion of the disadvantaged, as contained in an April 21, 1962 article published in the Harvard College, Cambridge, MA daily newspaper Harvard Crimson.
The philosophy was designed to achieve three goals: Serving the educational needs and potentialities of every child: Providing education which is relevant to the Technical, Economic, Social and Scientific needs of the society, as well as developing democratically minded citizens who would be aware of their country's social, economic and political problems in the present world situations.
At inception, the school was made up largely of lecturers from Harvard University and other renowned institutions in the United States of America as well as education officers from the then Western Region Government service took off with about 70 students.
Comprehensive High School, Aiyetoro had definitely benefited from the services of the best hands in the educational ministry as well as renowned educationists going by the list of officers who have served there. Also, the immense foreign support provided for the school in funds, personnel and materials contributed enormously to the achievements of the school.
The school is in no doubt the precursor of the 6-3-3-4 system of education and largely responsible for the popularity of comprehensive education in the country.
"Compro" as fondly referred to by many, especially its past student has produced many old students who now occupy very sensitive positions in the society both in Nigeria and abroad.

School logo

Principals of CHSA since inception in 1963

  1. Dr. John Sly 1963–1964
  2. Chief J. B. O. Ojo 1964–1968
  3. Dr. D. J. Bullock 1968–1970
  4. Mr. L. A. Sofenwa 1970–1974
  5. Dr. M. O. Alafe-Aluko 1974–1976
  6. Mr. G. O. Kehinde 1976–1978
  7. Mr. S. A. Ibikunle 1978–1982
  8. Deacon G. O. Adekunte 1982–1986
  9. Mr. J. O. Idowu 1986–1990
  10. Chief P. A. Olaleye 1991–1995
  11. Mr. T. O. Olanrewaju 1995–2001
  12. Elder J. A. Idowu 2001–2007
  13. Mr. Morenikeji 2007–2008
  14. Mr. F. Sawyerr 2008–2012
  15. Mr. O. Akinyinka 2012–2015
  16. Mr. Sekunmade S. S. 2015–present

    Benefactors

All the members of staff who have passed through the school.
Comprehensive high school at present, has two hostels; male and female hostel. Both hostels are identical and they have a square like shaped structure forming a quadrangle at the center. The hostels are a single storey building. Each hostel comprises four dormitories: Dom A, Dom B,Dom C,Dom D. There is really no criteria in allocating students to dormitories. Apart from the dormitories, there are single room that are mostly occupied by the senior students. The hostels have two large laundry rooms each which are mostly used by the boarders in taking their bath as it is quite large enough to allow them take their bath at once other than using the small bathrooms which can take just one person at a time. Each hostel has a large dining room which doubles as the room used for prep at night.

Notable alumni

*