The Federal Government has cleared the air over the controversy surrounding the alleged concession of King’s College, Lagos as the the Minister of Education, Mr. Tunji Alausa has announced that the school has not been privatized and no staff of the school will be sacked.
The Minister made the clarifications insisting that the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) concession between the Federal Government and the King’s College Old Boys’ Association (KCOBA) does not in any way give ownership of the school to private investors.
In a statement issued by the Minister’s spokesperson, Ikharo Attah, he explained that resolutions were reached at the end of a high-level engagement between the Federal Ministry of Education, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and other stakeholders over concerns arising from the arrangement for the King’s College Old Boys Association to continue managing the institution.
According to the statement, under the concession agreement, KCOBA is responsible for financing, rehabilitating, modernising, operating and maintaining the 117-year-old institution, while the Federal Government retains ownership as well as its statutory regulatory, monitoring, inspection and enforcement powers.
The minister while reiterating that the agreement does not transfer ownership of the school to KCOBA, admissions will continue to comply with applicable Unity College policies and the principles of merit, transparency, fairness and national representation. He added that the agreement does not prescribe an automatic increase in school fees, although it does not establish a permanent fee freeze.
Dr. Alausa stated that implementation of the arrangement for the King’s College Old Boys Association to continue managing the school would proceed, while a seven-member high-level committee would be constituted to consider further recommendations that could be incorporated into the agreement already signed.
The committee will comprise two representatives of the Federal Ministry of Education, including the Minister of State for Education and the Acting Permanent Secretary; one representative of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment; two senior-level representatives of the Trade Union Congress; and two representatives of the King’s College Old Boys Association.
Below is the full statement:
