The Nigeria Union of Teachers has stressed the need for stakeholders in the education sector to invest substantially into public education for national growth and development.
The teachers’ union said with effective tax collection model emplace, government should implement the internationally recommended benchmarks of six per cent of Gross Domestic Product and 20 per cent of the nation’s budget to education.
The union made the call in a communique made available to Oyo Reporters at the end of a global response workshop on privatisation and commercialisation in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Thursday.
According to the union, stakeholders should de-emphasize the privatisation and commercialisation of education as it undermines the right of the Nigerian child to quality education.
The NUT President, Dr Nasir Idris had, in his address at the workshop, stated that education for all is the collective responsibility of stakeholders in the sector.
Idris, who was represented on the occasion by the first Vice-President of the Union, Mr Kayode Akosile, said that the workshop was aimed at expanding global response to privatisation and commercialisation of education project to the Western zone, comprising Edo, Delta, Ogun, Lagos, Ondo, Osun, Kwara, Oyo and Ekiti states.
“It is our hope that we will be more sensitised and better prepared to support the advocacy for greater investment in quality public education for the benefit of the mass of Nigerian children and the sustainable development of our dear nation,” he said.
The communique tasked governments at all levels not to abdicate their responsibilities of regulating, monitoring and revalidating the operations of private providers based on set standards and human rights principles.
It read, “Government should be alive to its obligation to guarantee the right to education by providing free, inclusive, equitable and quality education for the benefit of the nation’s children and citizenry.
“International financing institutions and development partners should review their education financing policies in favour of public education rather than funding profit making private ventures.
“Government should invest more in education by allocating the internationally recommended benchmarks of six per cent of Gross Domestic Product and 20 per cent of the national budget to education.
“This can be achieved if government adopts progressive and efficient tax collection processes to generate resources. This is a choice we must make; it is a duty we owe our children and the future of our nation.”
The Regional Leader of NUT, West, Victor Amok, lauded the efforts of Education International and Fredrich Ebert Stiftung for their support in the struggle to make education affordable and accessible to children and youths.
He said, “In spite of all the achievements of the Union and governments of South-West in improving education and developing the youth to fit in into their positions in the society, I regret to say that significant percentage of our youths of school age are out of school.
“Funny enough, higher percentage are attending mushroom, unregistered, substandard private schools. These pose a challenge to everybody in the education sector if SDG4 has to be achieved in 2030,” Amoko said.
He, however, enjoined all stakeholders in the education sector to critically examine the challenges with a view to finding lasting solutions and bridging the gap between the rich and the poor in our society.
In his remarks, the Registrar of Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria, Prof. Segun Ajiboye, expressed appreciation to the union for having the interests of Nigerians at heart and not just fighting for the welfare of its members.
“We cannot price education above the reach of the poor, as this will be a disservice. The bedrock of all the challenges we are having today is lack of education. When people get the right education, there is going to be a turning around even in the security situation of the country.
“Democracy does not work in any place where the majority of the people lack proper education, ” Ajiboye said.
In his goodwill message, the President, National Parents’ Teachers Association of Nigeria, Mr Haruna Danjuma, said there was the need to improve learning conditions in Nigerian schools.
According to him, the insecurity in the Nigerian schools is disturbing and requires concerted efforts to address.
Present on the occasion were, Mrs Abimbola Odeleye, who represented the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu; the Chairman Education Committee, Oyo State House of Assembly, Olufemi Oluwafowokanmi; and the representatives of commissioners for education in the South-West.
