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The Best Way To Privatize Public Schools In Nigeria by JoelXclusive: 9:09pm On Sep 03, 2015 |
In the spirit of democracy, capitalism, and reducing
the cost of government
I believe a fully privatized educational system will be
best, especially in a country like Nigeria in which the
government is both poor and corrupt, and therefore
incapable of funding or managing public schools
effectively. Critics of privatization have pointed out
that when government institutions are privatized,
they end up being (1) controlled by the rich friends of
the government and (2) unaffordable to the common
man.
If Nigerian public schools are all privatized, they
could end up being controlled by people who have no
interest in education and just happen to be rich, well
connected, and willing to bribe. If all schools in
Nigeria are private, we could end up with a country in
which only rich can afford education. And that won't
be ok because we all know what happens when the
masses are not educated: you have a high crime rate,
religious crises, etc.
However, our public schools are in a deplorable
state. A few public schools are doing relatively well,
but they are not really public schools anymore,
because they charge all sorts of fees. We might as
well privatize them too. We could try to convince the
government to pump more tax-money into the worst
public schools, but that would be like pouring more
water into a basket. I believe the government should
be more involved in setting educational standards,
making sure WAEC, NECO, and JAMB exams are free
of cheating, and properly marked, etc. (instead of
running schools).
However, instead of simply selling public schools to
the highest bidder, I believe every public school
should be turned into a limited liability
company, and 1 share of that company should be
given (not sold) to every adult resident of the LGA
the school resides in, and every current
employee of the school.
The current principal of each school should be made
the CEO, and the head teachers and current PTA
officials made directors of each school. This will turn
public schools into for-profit organizations that have
a strong incentive to keep costs low, improve
educational standards and find ways to make more
money with the schools' land and resources. Public
schools will no longer be an unproductive drain on
our national resources.
This approach will put the schools in the hands of
communities instead of just the governors' crony
capitalist friends. The sense of ownership the
community feels about the schools, as a result of
their actual ownership, will encourage every
individuals to help their schools in various ways, and
to fight anyone that tries to damage the schools. If
the officials the schools don't perform, they will be
voted out in shareholder meetings.
Since the shares will be owned by both rich people
and poor people in the community, the school is
likely to pursue policies that make it possible for
children of the poor to afford the privatized schools,
such as academic scholarships and multiple tiers of
service so rich students subsidize poor students. At
the same time, they will avoid policies that can make
the school go bankrupt (otherwise, the poor
shareholders will get no dividends!)
There will be a healthy balance of empathy, social
values, pragmatism, and capitalistic creativity and
efficiency. It shouldn't be hard to try it out with a
single public school to see how it turns out. We
should start with schools that are currently in a very
bad state, such as this one, and this one.
What do you think about school privatization in
general, and this approach specifically? What are
some of the challenges you envisage? Do you have
any suggestions about how to improve this, or
reasons why it may work or not work?
Source: Privatize Public Schools And Distribute
Their Shares To The Masses |
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