Kenya National Union of Teachers KNUT secretary general Collins Oyuu has said the union is against the idea of privatizing universities. Education is a fundamental right and it’s important that every child gets this right and the idea to privatize
education goes against the norm.
“As Knut, Uasu and Kuppet, we say no to privatization of universities, we cannot commercialize education because it is already expensive.” He said.
The move to privatize education will also hinder the attainment of the SDG goals geared towards Agenda 2030 and learning will not be as required if education is privatized. .
“Remember the Agenda 2030 that we are all geared towards on SGD4 can we reach there if we commercialize and privatize education? we cannot,” he said.
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On Tuesday, teachers from primary, secondary schools and lecturers opposed a proposal to privatize some public universities.
The education unions launched research findings on the campaign against the privatization and commercialization of education and explained the difference between privatization and commercialization of education.
Privatization of education is mainly concerned with the increase in the number of institutions offering education privately. While commercialization is the creation, marketing and sale of education as a product for commercial gain.
The unionist called for the improvement of public schools as many parents are seen to be drawn to private schools.
“Revamp public schools to make them more attractive to parents, learners and workers,” he said.