King’s College concession not a sale — Alausa

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, has insisted that the proposed 35-year concession of King’s College, Lagos, to its Old Boys Association does not amount to a sale.

Alausa spoke on Wednesday as workers blocked the entrance to the Federal Ministry of Education headquarters in Abuja and chanted, “Alausa must go,” protesting the concession and other grievances.

Under the proposed arrangement, the King’s College Old Boys Association would finance, rehabilitate, operate and maintain the school, while ownership remains with the Federal Government.

Alausa said the agreement was neither a sale nor a model that would be extended to other Federal Unity Schools.

“The simple and unequivocal answer is no. We’re not extending it. We told them clearly that this management agreement that we’re signing with Kings College Old Boys Association is not a prelude to other unity schools,” he said.

The minister said the concession was necessitated by years of neglect and severe deterioration at the 116-year-old school.

He cited dilapidated classrooms, laboratories, hostels and bathrooms, as well as electricity and staffing challenges.

Alausa said only 57 of the school’s 121 teachers were government employees, while 64 were employed through the Parent-Teacher Association.

He also disclosed that he had ordered the cancellation of a commercial car park operating on part of the school premises, alleging that about 250 vehicles were using the facility and that it posed security concerns.

The minister further alleged that some admissions into the school could cost as much as ₦20m.

He said the Old Boys Association would operate the school on a non-profit basis, with no increase in students’ fees, while the ministry would monitor compliance with the agreement.

On the wider rehabilitation of Federal Unity Schools, Alausa said about 20 schools had been identified for comprehensive rehabilitation, with the government seeking to repurpose about $20m under the World Bank’s Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment programme.

He said the estimated cost of rehabilitating schools in the South-West alone was almost ₦100bn.

Addressing concerns over job losses, Alausa said affected workers would be retained within the Federal Ministry of Education or redeployed to other federal schools.

He also announced plans to recruit 3,000 teachers this year and another 5,000 next year.

The Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, said teachers would not lose their jobs under the arrangement, adding that the government remained open to reviewing aspects of the agreement.

“The agreement is not cast in stone. We keep saying this, we have we are willing to listen,” she said.

A seven-member committee comprising government and labour representatives has been constituted to review concerns surrounding the King’s College concession.