Parents are preparing to protest the concession of King’s College Lagos because a public school facing decaying facilities and bedbug infestations is being handed to an old boys’ association without a public guarantee that it will remain affordable.
Development Diaries reports that the federal government has approved the concession of King’s College Lagos to the King’s College Old Boys Association, despite opposition from parents, staff and stakeholders across the federal unity school system.
At the school’s annual general meeting in July, a parent argued that dilapidated facilities and bedbug infestations should attract more government funding rather than privatisation. Six weeks later, parents were preparing for a mass protest against the concession.
Here are five things Nigerians should know about the deal.
1. The government approved the concession despite opposition from the school community
The first issue is how the decision was reached, with Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Chairman Peter Oluwaseye saying that parents, senior civil servants and members of the surrounding community were opposed to the concession, arguing that King’s College is public property and should remain under public ownership.
Similarly, the Chairman of the King’s College Lagos unit of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, Enang Samuel, said the school’s staff rejected the arrangement and wanted the federal government to retain ownership and continue running the institution.
PTAs across federal unity schools have also opposed policies that could lead to their privatisation, arguing that the schools were created to bring children from different ethnic, religious and socio-economic backgrounds together.
That makes the concession a test of whether a public institution can be transferred into private management without the people who depend on it having a meaningful say.
2. Nobody outside the deal can see its most important terms
King’s College was established in 1909 and has served generations of Nigerians, but the public has not been given the full terms of the concession.
Parents and other Nigerians have not been told how long the arrangement will last, what will determine fees, what the concessionaire must invest, or what happens to the school and its property when the agreement ends.
That leaves parents being asked to trust a contract whose most important provisions they cannot examine.
3. Affordability could become the biggest casualty
Olatunji Ojulari, chairman of the King’s College Lagos Parents Community, said the land was acquired to provide affordable quality education for generations of Nigerians and warned that the concession could put that education beyond the reach of many families.
Loveth Nimkur-Ikilama, a teacher and Unity College alumna, similarly warned that concession could eventually lead to privatisation, higher fees and the exclusion of indigent but brilliant students.
Those concerns become harder to dismiss because there is no published fee ceiling, protected scholarship allocation or admission requirement guaranteeing continued access for low-income families.
If the government believes the concession will preserve affordability, it should be able to show Nigerians exactly where that guarantee appears in the agreement.
4. The funding problem needs to be examined before school is handed over
Nobody disputes that King’s College needs investment. The concern is why years of inadequate public funding should end with the public being told that private management is the solution.
The Federal Ministry of Education recommended the arrangement, while the Federal Executive Council approved it. The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission regulates federal concessions, and the National Assembly committees responsible for basic education have a responsibility to scrutinise the decision.
Before implementation proceeds, Nigerians should know how much the federal government has allocated to King’s College over the past five years, how much was actually released and spent, and what happened to the infrastructure funding that was supposed to keep the school functioning.
5. King’s College could set precedent for every federal unity school
The concern extends beyond Lagos because King’s College is part of a wider federal unity school system created to give children from different parts of Nigeria access to a common educational experience.
Parents have warned that concessioning King’s College could become a precedent for other unity schools, including Federal Government Girls’ Colleges.
The children most exposed to such a change are already identifiable. Indigent but brilliant students could be pushed out if fees rise. Girls in households struggling with education costs could face greater pressure to leave school when families have to choose which children they can afford to keep in school.
Rural families could also lose access if admission gradually becomes more dependent on ability to pay, weakening the national integration purpose of the unity schools.
Children with disabilities should not be left out either. No published provision currently shows how a concessionaire would be required to preserve inclusive admission or provide the additional support some learners need.
What should happen next
Parents preparing for the protest should demand the full King’s College concession agreement from the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission and publish the response, including the provisions on fees, duration, investment and the eventual return of the property.
They should also demand a fee ceiling and a protected quota for low-income and scholarship students before implementation begins. Old boys who oppose the arrangement should make their position public as well, because an association representing alumni interests does not automatically speak for every former student.
As for the Federal Ministry of Education, it should suspend implementation until the National Assembly holds a public hearing involving parents, staff, students and disability-inclusion advocates, while the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission should publish active federal education-sector concession agreements so Nigerians can see how public schools are being moved into private management.
The education ministry should also publish the capital allocations to every federal unity school for the past five years. Nigerians should be able to see how much was provided for King’s College and whether the infrastructure problems now being cited as justification for the concession were partly created by years of inadequate public funding.
King’s College can be poorly managed without ceasing to be public, and years of government neglect should not become the argument for taking public education out of public hands.
Photo source: Kaizen Photography
