Privatization and the ‘international schools’: the need to maintain standard

Western education was introduced into Nigeria in 1842 through private initiative of Christian Missionaries who were fully in charge until 1882 when the first Education Ordinance was promulgated to improve the education system. The huge investment involved in the provision of education makes the government to allow continual participation of private individuals and institutions. However, there is a trend of event in the private participation that calls for urgent attention; substandard schools that are not even supposed to exist are being approved as ‘International Schools’ or ‘Group of Schools’ and this does not augur well for our system. The researcher visited some of these schools and discovered that, there is no standard put in place or enforced by the approving authorities at all.  It is therefore recommended among others that government should put in place a standard as a matter of urgency to prevent further rot in the education system.