King’s College, Lagos.
The Education Rights Campaign, ERC, has urged the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, to join the opposition to the Federal Government’s concession of King’s College, Lagos.
The group described the concession of the federal unity school to the King’s College Old Boys Association, KCOBA, as a further consequence of years of underfunding of public education in Nigeria.
In a statement signed by its Deputy National Coordinator, Ogunjimi Isaac, and National Mobilisation Officer, Adaramoye Michael Lenin, the ERC says the concession represented an attack on public education and could make quality education increasingly inaccessible to working-class and middle-class families.
The group argued that the government’s decision to stop funding the school following the concession formed part of a broader policy of withdrawing public investment from education.
According to the ERC, King’s College and other Federal Government Unity Schools have provided relatively affordable access to quality education for thousands of Nigerian families, despite periodic increases in fees and the deteriorating state of public education.
The group warned that concessioning King’s College to private interests could encourage similar arrangements involving other public schools and tertiary institutions.
The ERC called on members of KCOBA to abandon plans to take over the school and instead support it through donations for infrastructure, facilities and personnel.
It, however, stresses that such contributions should complement, rather than replace, the government’s responsibility to adequately fund public education.
The group also expressed support for the strike by King’s College workers under the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, ASCSN, against the concession.
It backs the opposition of the school’s Parent-Teacher Association, PTA, and called for mass action involving students, teachers, workers, parents, civil society organisations and other members of the public.
The ERC specifically urged the national leaderships of the NLC, TUC and ASCSN to mobilise against the concession, arguing that organised labour should not remain indifferent to what it described as an attack on public education.
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