NUT slams FG over King’s College concession

The Nigeria Union of Teachers has faulted the Federal Government over its decision to concede the management of King’s College, Lagos, to the institution’s Old Boys’ Association, accusing the government of shirking its responsibility to provide quality and accessible education for Nigerian children.

The National President of the NUT, Audu Amba, said the concession of the 117-year-old Federal Government-owned unity school was worrisome, arguing that King’s College was a national symbol of unity that deserved government funding and protection.

Amba, who spoke with The PUNCH on Thursday, said the decision could amount to an attempt by the government to privatise public education and undermine access to quality education for 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 described King’s College as one of the symbols of national unity, saying the government should be prepared to commit resources to sustaining the institution rather than concessioning its management.

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 faulted the process leading to the proposed concession, saying teachers and their union were not adequately consulted before the decision was reached.

He questioned the Federal Government’s claim that relevant stakeholders had been consulted, saying teachers, who were central to the running of the school, should have been part of the process.

“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 added that government could have a good policy but undermine its acceptance by failing to carry stakeholders along.

“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.

Amba expressed concern that handing over the management of King’s College to the Old Boys’ Association could pave the way for changes in school fees and other policies, potentially affecting children from less privileged families.

He said the union would continue to oppose the arrangement unless the concerns of teachers and other stakeholders were adequately addressed.

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The NUT’s position comes amid growing opposition to the concession, which has triggered protests, industrial action and disruption to the resumption of students in some Federal Unity Colleges.

On her part, an educationist, Helen Idiong, called for greater transparency in the concession process, saying the concerns being raised by stakeholders were being fuelled by the lack of public access to the full agreement.

Idiong said the government should make the concession agreement available to the public and constitute a board comprising representatives of relevant stakeholders to oversee its implementation.

She also said concerns over a possible increase in fees needed to be addressed to reassure families that access to the school 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 added that transparency and effective communication were required to resolve the impasse.

The Federal Government on Wednesday agreed to suspend the 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 parties also agreed to suspend the industrial action, withdraw policemen deployed to the college and constitute a seven-member committee, including labour representatives, to review and negotiate the concession agreement.

The government had maintained that the arrangement did not amount to the sale or privatisation of King’s College, stressing that legal ownership of the institution remained with the Federal Government.

Alausa said the concession was designed to mobilise additional resources for the rehabilitation and modernisation of the 117-year-old school while retaining government ownership and oversight.

He also said the government had no plan to extend the arrangement to other Unity Colleges, while insisting that there would be no automatic increase in school fees under the agreement.

The Federal Government’s decision to pause implementation followed days of protests by workers, parents and other stakeholders over the proposed arrangement. The dispute had escalated into a confrontation at the school, prompting the deployment of policemen to the premises.