THE leadership of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), has warned the Federal Government against what it described as unchecked commercialisation of education in Nigeria, as indicated by outrageous school fees and other charges across the country.
The Union expressed concerns that the underfunding and general neglect of public primary and secondary schools, giving room for private providers to set high school fees is gradually putting education out of reach of poor parents and less-privileged in the society.
NUT National President, Comrade Audu Titus Amba spoke on Thursday in Abuja, during a one-day capacity-building workshop for state chairmen and secretaries of the Union, organized by NUT in partnership with Education International (EI) and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) under the framework of the Global Response to Privatisation and Commercialization of Education project.
The event also witnessed the formal launch of the “Go Public! Fund Education campaign”, in Nigeria, a global call for adequate funding of education and the teaching profession to ensure the provision of quality public education for all.
Amba called on the Federal Government to invest more in education by increasing education financing to meet the internationally recommended benchmarks of 6 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 20 per cent of the national budget.
He said the Union has now decided to embark on the campaign for funding of education as well as for the protection of the right to education through provision of free, inclusive and equitable quality public education for all.
He said the Union is not unaware of the fact that the National Policy on Education (NPE) provides for the participation of private providers of education to complement the efforts of the Government, “but we are totally against the unchecked commercialization of education and the activities of non-state actors that often trample on the rights of both teachers and learners”.
He added that government must adequately invest in education and the teaching profession to ensure protection and fulfilment of the right of every child to education.
NUT President said: “Budgetary allocations to education have over the years remained a far cry from the internationally recommended benchmarks of at 4 to 6 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and/or at least 15 to 20 per cent of the national budget.
“According to UNICEF (2022) there are over 18 million out-of-school children in the basic education sub-sector in Nigeria. Available statistics also reveal that there is a shortage of 194,876 teachers in public primary schools across the country (UBEC, 2024).
“This situation has left public education dysfunctional with a myriad of challenges that are antithetical to the nation’s quest for the enthronement of a functional education system that would promote the attainment of national goals and development.
“One major threat to the right to education is the increasing trade and investment agreements and the use of market mechanisms in the provision of education.
“The seeming failure of government to invest adequately in quality public education, and the reliance on private providers to fill the gaps existing in the public education system has resulted in proliferation of private schools of all kinds across the country.
“According to UBEC (2024), there are 91,252 basic private schools, as against 79,777 public schools in the country.
“The upsurge in the activities of non-state actors in education is also promoted by International Financial Institutions and Development Partners, as well as the failure of government to regulate the operations of these for-profit private providers.
“Unfortunately, the dependence on private providers of education has the effect of engendering decline in public investment in education, thereby weakening efforts to strengthen and expand provision of free, inclusive and equitable quality education for all in line with Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4).
“The increasing participation of non-State actors with profit motive has turned education into a tradable commodity sold to learners, who are considered to be the customers, thereby denying the less-privileged, the disadvantaged and the vulnerable, especially the girl-child, children with disabilities and those living in the rural areas, access to quality education.
“It is a fact that privatization and commercialization of education in any guise, creates stratification and segregation which leads to huge disparities in education opportunities and social inequalities.
“It must be emphasized that a free quality public education for all is key to the sustainable development and future prosperity of Nigeria and her citizenry,” he said.
Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu, acknowledged the challenges being faced in the education, noting however that the current administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is already doing all it could to fix the nation’s education sector.
He reaffirmed the commitment to welfare of teachers, saying the standard of education could not be higher than the quality of teachers in the system.
Keynote speaker, Dr. Dennis Sinyolo, Regional Director, Education International Africa Regional Office, Ghana, in his virtual presentation, regretted Nigeria is reputed to have highest number of out-of-school children globally.
He called for more investment in education, improvement in the welfare of teachers and to replace the chalkboard with smart board through deployment of technology in education.
Tribune Online
