NUT, EIA seek crowdfunding to boost investment
The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and Education International Africa (EIA) have called for support from the government and corporate bodies in a bid to boost investment in education. Speaking at the launch of the ‘Go Public Fund Education’ campaign in Lagos, the National President of the NUT, Comrade Audu Titus Amba, admitted that paucity […]
Nigerian Union of Teachers NUT
The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and Education International Africa (EIA) have called for support from the government and corporate bodies in a bid to boost investment in education.
Speaking at the launch of the ‘Go Public Fund Education’ campaign in Lagos, the National President of the NUT, Comrade Audu Titus Amba, admitted that paucity of funds has crippled the growth of education in the country.
He, however, decried privatisation, arguing that it would foster inequality and deny access to indigent children.
Amba emphasised the need for collaborative public investment, stressing that it would help address the myriad challenges confronting education at the basic, primary, and secondary levels.
“Over the years, the country’s education sector has continued to experience underfunding and general neglect, especially at the basic level.
“Budgetary allocations to education have remained a far cry from the internationally recommended benchmarks of at least 4 to 6 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 15 to 20 percent of public expenditure,” he said.
The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, represented by his deputy, Adewale Adeyanju, described the privatisation of education as a deliberate insidious agenda rooted in neoliberalism, stressing that it is an act of injustice to the socio-economic well-being of the country.
“Education is not a commodity to be priced and sold in the marketplace. It is the very structure upon which we will build the economy of our nation.
“It is the primary machinery for producing not just a skilled workforce, but also critical thinkers, conscious citizens, and an empowered populace capable of shaping its own destiny,” he said.
The Minister of State for Education, Professor Suwaiba Sa’id Ahmad represented by the principal, Kings College, Magaji Zachariah underscored the importance of education to national development, emphasising the need to prioritise it in the country’s budget.