Ei-iE

Nigeria: Union renews fight against commercialisation and privatisation of education

published 15 May 2017 updated 15 May 2017

The Nigeria Union of Teachers has reaffirmed its commitment to lead the advocacy against commercialisation and privatisation of education in the country.

EI workshop

The Nigeria Union of Teachers NUT renewed its commitment at the Education International (EI) workshop on commercialisation and privatisation of education for members of the NUT National Executive Council. The event was held from 10-11 May in Abuja, Nigeria, and was attended by over 190 NUT members from all over the country.

In his presentation on the EI Global Response to commercialisation and privatisation in and of education, project director Angelo Gavrielatos underlined the negative effects of commercialisation and privatisation in education. Using the Bridge International Academies (BIA) as a case study, he firmly criticised the latter’s use of “a robotic method of teaching which has failed to provide students with sound educational knowledge and values”. He further reiterated EI’s support to NUT in its struggle against this negative trend.

NUT: Condemnation

The NUT National President, Michael Olukoya, also condemned the commercialisation and privatisation of education. He said that the Nigerian public authorities’ policy has left education in the hands of business and private organisations whose concerns are to make financial gain and profit. Such a system contradicts the policy of promoting access to quality education for all.