The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has urged the Federal Government (FG) to allocate 20 per cent of annual budget to the education sector, to recover the learning losses and to ensure quality education.
The NUT President, Audu Amba made the call at a workshop on implementation of Global Response to Privatisation and Commercialisation of Education in Abuja on Wednesday.
The event was organised by the NUT in partnership with Education International (EI) and Friedrich Evert Stiftung (FES).
Amba, in a six point demand, said the only way to salvage education and give it its pride of place was to provide quality public education.
He called on the government not to abdicate its responsibility to regulate and monitor the operations of private providers based on set standards and human rights principles.
He further urged the government to be alive to its obligation to guarantee the right to education by providing free, inclusive, equitable, quality education.
Amba also called on the government to invest more in education by allocating internationally recommended benchmarks of six per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
This, according to him, can be achieved if the government adopts progressive and efficient tax collection processes to generate resources.
The president equally called on international financing institutions and development partners to review their education financing policies in favour of public education and not profit making private ventures.
“Education is a fundamental human right and a public good that is central to the development of human capabilities and transformation of society.
“The social value of education requires states to ensure that the education system is not subjected to the neo-liberal agenda of commercialisation, commodification and marketisation.
“It is a core responsibility of the government to respect, protect and fulfill the right to education.
“The right to education is recognised by several international conventions, declarations and recommendations to which Nigeria is a signatory.
“It is also supported by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the National Policy on Education, the Rights Act of 2003 and the Compulsory Free Universal Basic Education Act of 2004,”he said.
Amba expressed concern over emergence of low-cost for-profit schools, allegedly run by multinational corporations, which “claim to provide high quality education at affordable cost to low-income families.”
Amba said, the shift to privatisation and commercialisation of education was engendering decline in public investment in education.
He said the move was weakening efforts to strengthen and expand the provision of free, inclusive and equitable quality education for all.
The president said there was no doubt that the National Policy on Education (NPE) recognised participation of private actors in education to complement efforts of the government.
He, however, stated that the proliferation of largely unregulated private schools for profit making was worrisome.
He said the high cost of private schools had denied the less-privileged, disadvantaged and vulnerable, especially children with disabilities, the girl-child and those living in rural areas, access to quality education.
“Privatisation and commercialisation of education in any guise, creates stratification, segregation and inequalities in education.
“The NUT hereby reiterates its stand against this brazen attempt to legitimize profit making in the provision of education.
“Such is antithetical to our quest, desire and commitment as a nation to provide free, Inclusive and equitable quality education to all in line with SDG 4,”he said.
He called on the government to provide needed support for public schools teachers through training, professional development and work tools, to meet the 21st century demand.
Dr Dennis Sinyolo, Regional Director, EI Africa, in a keynote address, said studies had shown that proliferation of privatisation of education was caused by gaps created through poor funding of public schools.
He called for the strengthening of public schools particularly in Africa, through infrastructure development and teachers’ welfare among others.
He said while the Nigerian Government was spending only 1.9 per cent on workers’ salaries, Ghana was spending 8.7 per cent, Senegal 6.5 per cent and Uganda 3.5 per cent.
This, according to him, indicates the need for increased public sector spending in Nigeria.
Sinyolo, who delivered his address virtually, said,”we need to push back on commercialisation and privatisation of education.
“It is paramount for the government to deploy legislative instruments to stop commercialisation and privatisation of education.
“It is not enough to say it but to back it up with a legal framework and commitment of more funds.
“If this is not done, the gaps will continue to exist and private schools will continue to take advantage of that gap.
The regional director further called for increased taxation to fund education in Nigeria.
The stakeholders including Secretary General NUT, Dr Mike Ike Ene, Coordinator, Global Response on Privatisation and Commercialisation of Education, Dr Clinton Ikpitobo harped on improved funds.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) made a commitment to ensure necessary legal frameworks required and sensitisation.
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