THE NATIONAL Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria (NAPTAN) has called for the suspension of the Federal Government’s concession of King’s College, Lagos.
NAPTAN Secretary-General, Ibrahim Yau-Nabayi, made the call while reacting to the controversy surrounding the concession of the school.
The secretary-general stated this in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday.
Yau-Nabayi said the association was shocked that parents and other critical stakeholders were neither consulted nor informed before the concession arrangement.
He said concession was not necessarily a bad idea, but its modalities, implications, and benefits to Nigerian children must first be clearly established.
Yau-Nabayi questioned whether the arrangement would provide a win-win situation for Nigerian children and concessionaires, or amount to the government abdicating its responsibility.
According to him, education is a fundamental responsibility of government and should not be treated as a revenue-generating venture.
“Education is not a revenue-generating agency; our schools are not revenue-generating agencies,” he said.
Yau-Nabayi said NAPTAN was particularly concerned about the affordability of concessioned schools for children from low-income families.
He also raised concerns about the fate of teachers in the affected schools, saying their jobs and future must be guaranteed under any concession arrangement.
The NAPTAN secretary-general said the modalities and terms of the concession agreement should be made public for proper scrutiny by stakeholders.
He warned that concessioning King’s College, Lagos, could trigger similar demands from other Federal Unity Colleges across the country.
“If you give King’s College, and the Federal Government College, Bakori, for example, others will come up and say they want theirs,” he said.
Yau-Nabayi said the development could have serious implications for access to education if concession arrangements were extended without proper analysis.
He urged the federal government to suspend the concession arrangement and convene stakeholders to discuss its modalities and implications.
The secretary-general said parents, teachers, education unions, and other critical stakeholders should be involved in finding an acceptable pathway.
Meanwhile, students of the Federal Government College (FGC), Malali, Kaduna, were sent home after reporting for the new academic session on September 14.
The federal government had directed students of Federal Unity Colleges nationwide to resume on September 14 for the new academic session.
NAN reports that some students arrived at FGC Malali on the said date in compliance with the directive, but were subsequently asked to return home.
Other students who reported later that day were also sent back, while academic activities did not commence.
The development came amid opposition by education unions to the resumption of Federal Unity Colleges over the controversy surrounding the King’s College concession.
The unions have expressed concerns over the concession arrangement and its implications for the management of federal schools.
The Principal of FGC Malali, Mr. Kofi Akpan, declined comment when contacted by NAN on the development.
A parent, Alhaji Mustapha Ibrahim, described the situation as unfortunate, saying parents had made arrangements for their children to return to school.
Ibrahim urged the federal government to resolve the issues amicably so that students could return to learning after spending a long period on break.
Another parent, Mrs. Sylvia Nicholas, urged relevant authorities to resolve the situation quickly in the interest of the students.
NAN reports that the federal government’s resumption directive is applied to Federal Unity Colleges across the country.
However, students at FGC Malali remained at home as the school awaited further directive on the commencement of academic activities. (NAN)
