The Nigeria Union of Teachers has criticised the Federal Government’s decision to hand over the management of King’s College, Lagos, to the school’s Old Boys’ Association, arguing that the move could undermine public education.
The National President of the NUT, Audu Amba, described the proposed concession of the 117-year-old Federal Government-owned unity school as concerning, insisting that the institution represents an important symbol of national unity and should continue to receive government support.
Speaking with The PUNCH on Thursday, Amba said the arrangement could be interpreted as an attempt to move public education towards privatisation, potentially affecting children from less privileged backgrounds.
He said, “It’s worrisome with this kind of development. I don’t know how it all happened, but the basic thing is that by so doing, it has further portrayed that the Federal Government is trying to shy away from its own responsibility of providing free, qualitative and accessible education to all Nigerian children.
“Unity schools all over the country are a legacy. They are a legacy nationally that unifies Nigeria. And I want to believe that Federal Government colleges were built years back to be able to unify Nigeria, especially after the civil war.”
Amba said King’s College should be regarded as one of the country’s symbols of unity and maintained that the government should provide the resources required to preserve its legacy.
He said, “Unity King’s College, Lagos, is one of the symbols of our unity in this country. And it is expected that if there is any way that government needs to spend resources to be able to sustain the legacy of that institution, I think it wouldn’t be overemphasised if government should do that.”
The NUT president also questioned the consultation process preceding the proposed concession, saying teachers and their representatives were not sufficiently involved.
He challenged the Federal Government’s position that relevant stakeholders had been consulted, arguing that teachers, as key participants in the school system, should have been included in the discussions.
“If you say you have consulted with stakeholders, and teachers are now coming out to say that they are not aware and they don’t want it, so are they telling you they were invited? Of course not,” Amba said.
He argued that even a potentially beneficial government policy could face resistance if stakeholders were excluded from the decision-making process.
“Government may have a good policy, but not carrying everybody along makes it look as if there is something beneath it that people are yet to understand what is actually happening. So that is why you see both teachers and parents are saying no,” he said.
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Amba further expressed concern that transferring management to the Old Boys’ Association could result in changes to school fees and other policies, with possible implications for families with limited financial resources.
He said the union would maintain its opposition to the arrangement until the concerns raised by teachers and other stakeholders were properly addressed.
The NUT’s position comes amid opposition to the proposed concession, which has led to protests, industrial action and disruption to the resumption of students at some Federal Unity Colleges.
An educationist, Helen Idiong, also called for greater openness in the process, saying the absence of the full concession agreement in the public domain had contributed to the concerns surrounding the arrangement.
Idiong urged the government to publish the agreement and establish a board containing representatives of relevant stakeholders to monitor its implementation.
She also called for clarification on concerns about possible fee increases to reassure parents that access to the institution would remain equitable.
She said, “The major issue is that there seems to be a lack of transparency in the concession agreement, which is generating fears from various stakeholders.
“The first thing would have been to consult widely and act based on input from stakeholders from the beginning. This would have been averted now.”
Idiong said greater transparency and communication would be necessary to resolve the disagreement between the government and stakeholders.
The Federal Government on Wednesday agreed to suspend implementation of the King’s College concession for two weeks following a meeting between the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, and representatives of education-sector labour unions.
The meeting also resulted in an agreement to suspend the industrial action, withdraw policemen deployed to the school and establish a seven-member committee, with labour representatives included, to review and negotiate the concession agreement.
The Federal Government has maintained that the arrangement does not constitute the sale or privatisation of King’s College, stressing that ownership of the institution remains with the government.
Alausa said the concession was intended to attract additional resources for the rehabilitation and modernisation of the 117-year-old school while retaining government ownership and oversight.
He also stated that the government did not intend to extend the arrangement to other Unity Colleges and assured that the agreement would not automatically lead to an increase in school fees.
The decision to suspend implementation followed several days of protests by workers, parents and other stakeholders. Tensions over the proposal had also led to a confrontation at the school, resulting in the deployment of policemen to the premises.