The Federal Government has assured students and parents that school fees at King’s College, Lagos, will not be increased under the proposed management arrangement involving the school’s Old Boys’ Association.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, gave the assurance on Wednesday at a news conference in Abuja, where he addressed concerns surrounding the arrangement.
Alausa explained that the agreement with the King’s College Old Boys’ Association was intended to attract additional resources to the institution without transferring ownership of the school from the Federal Government.
He said the arrangement would operate under strict key performance indicators designed to ensure that all parties complied with the agreed terms.
According to the minister, the Ministry of Education had also constituted an implementation and monitoring team that would carry out unannounced inspections to assess compliance with the agreement.
Alausa said the government was willing to engage with unions and consider legitimate concerns that could improve the arrangement.
He noted that the infrastructure challenges accumulated across Unity Colleges over several decades could not be resolved immediately through government funding alone.
The minister reiterated that students would not face any increase in school fees, stressing that the Memorandum of Understanding contained provisions designed to protect the interests of both the government and learners.
He also encouraged journalists to visit the affected schools and independently assess their condition before reporting on the controversy surrounding the management arrangement.
The Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, who also spoke at the briefing, assured that teachers would not lose their jobs because of the King’s College arrangement.
Ahmad said teachers affected by the arrangement had been allowed to indicate their preferred locations for redeployment, in accordance with the Public Service Rules.
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She added that the government was implementing teacher capacity-building initiatives as part of wider efforts to improve learning outcomes across Unity Colleges and other public schools.
According to her, the ministry remained ready to engage unions over issues arising from the arrangement and would consider legitimate concerns for possible inclusion in the MoU.
She said a committee had been set up to review the agreement and address issues raised by stakeholders, adding that representatives of the unions would be part of a separate committee monitoring its implementation.
“There is no fee increase in this arrangement. It is part of the MoU we signed.
“With the workers’ protest, we cannot meet with them when they have shut the ministry.
“Normalcy must return to the ministry if the unions want us to listen to them,” she said.
Ahmad said the Federal Government’s broader objective was to restore the quality and excellence historically associated with Unity Colleges.
She attributed the decline in standards to challenges that had accumulated over several decades, saying sustained investment in infrastructure and teacher development would be required to reverse the trend.
The minister added that the government was examining different public-private partnership models for the rehabilitation of Unity Colleges, with the approach adopted in Kano among the options being considered.