Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Stakeholders in the education sector have charged states government handing over public schools to private organisations to rethink their decision, saying such acts could impact negatively on the nation’s education.
They gave the warning in Abuja, at a one-day workshop on privatisation and commercialisation of education, organised by the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), in collaboration with Educational International (EI) and Friedrich Ebert-Stiftun.
The objective of the workshop was to highlight the negative impact of privatisation to the education system, and the need for adequate investment in quality education for all.
Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, in his remarks, said that education is not a commodity, therefore, the idea of privatisation and commercialisation should be interrogated extensively.
Adamu, who was represented by the Registrar, Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), Prof. Josiah Ajiboye, discouraged any discussion that could lead to privatisation of education.
He said: “Private individuals are constitutionally allowed to establish schools. But in a situation where government is being advised or pressurised to hand over public schools to individual is what should be discouraged.”
The National President of NUT, Dr. Mohammed Nasir Idris, said, in his remarks, that the workshop was apt and timely considering the growing cases of privatisation and commercialisation of education in Nigeria, especially the entry of low-cost private schools operated by private individuals for profit making.
He said: “NUT has, over the years, vehemently opposed the handover of public schools by some state government to private organisations. It was an aspect of privatisation and commercialisation of education that we considered anti-people and retrogressive.
“Information before us indicates that some primary schools have been handed over to faith-based organisations by Abia State government without recourse to key stakeholders such as NUT. Same thing is being mulled by Benue State government.”
He noted that such exercise was a gross violation of the Universal Right to Education and the compulsory, free, universal basic education Act, 2004 which provide a nine year free and compulsory basic education for all children in Nigeria.
The representative of Friedrich Ebert-Stiftun, Ulrich Thum, said that NUT has a big role to play in ensuring that education system in Nigeria overcomes its problems.
He noted that it was imperative to demand from states in the country to allocate adquate resources in supporting education.