WHAT NAPPS AND OTHER UNIONS MUST KNOW AND DO RIGHT

WHAT NAPPS AND OTHER UNIONS MUST KNOW AND DO RIGHT - BY

 I.E BELIEVE

As I put pen to paper to get the basic idea behind the topic, one main question I could not answer ‘are school owner associations trade unions or professional associations?’

. The National Association of proprietors of Private Schools NAPPS and other school owners’ union like Association of Private Educators of Nigeria (APEN), Association of Formidable Education Development (AFED), Private School Owners Association of Nigeria (PSOAN), Association of private school owners of Nigeria (APSON) among others cannot really be said to be a trade union, a pressure group or a professional association.

Unionism according to definition is an ideology favouring the continued union of a group of persons with common interest. And association on the other hand according to online business dictionary is defined as an organization of people with a common purpose and having a formal structure. It is a group of people organized for a joint purpose, a connection or cooperation link between people or organization.

As it is, none of the school owners union can regulate price of school fee, as this is mainly due to taste, preference, classes and religious belief of the parents and the students. But if the various school owners’ unions are to exist as professional association, then the individuals who join the association, must have some benefits, especially when the association member are dues-paying members. Though in recent times, many units are now forming cooperative society to grant loans and financial support to their members. But I believe there is more that can be done by the association to make others want to be a member, viz-a –viz:

1.        The associations must be able to control the establishment of new schools (unless there are explicit laws for the free entry of schools). This can be done through the establishment of boundary policy, restricting certain distance apart for new schools. Often times I watch with astonishment when i see two or more schools directly opposite each other or just fence apart and they are approved by the ministry of education via the Zonal education offices. If we keep focusing on the qualification of the school owners as stated in the national policy of education for prospective teachers to become school owners, then the empty threat of clapping down school becomes a deliberate extortion by any agency or authority since the schools in questions pay the same dues.

2.     Restricted movement of pupils

If a child or teacher can leave a school into another school without recourse to the school he/she is coming from, then the essence of unionism is defected. The school owners need boundary policies for its members. This can be achieved through for instance NAPPS transfer forms, where parents who want to seek transfer for their children obtain this form. This form serves as a source of income revenue for the association and also check parents who owe school fees and run to other schools unbridled. Strict punishment will be spelt out for school owners who admit pupils without the form.

3.     School Owners Association Merger

It quite amazing with the number of unions or do I call them associations for the same purpose. As listed above, there are more than five unions excluding religious unions (league of Muslim school and Christian school owners). As a professional association, it is unnecessary to have all these school unions. This proliferation of school owners’ unions weaken the authority of the school owners when they want to work as a pressure group.  It is therefore imperative for the leadership of the various unions to merge under a single umbrella to stay strong and say together we stand, divided we fall. This will solve the problem of dual membership and make every school owner a member of the union.

4.     Absolute membership

Everyone who starts a school must be an automatic member of the association if the leadership can establish a merger as mention above. Apart from fulfilling certain requirement given by the ministry which might be a later requirement for schools who want to register their schools. Absolute membership is a policy which should make any intending school owners to first sort application from the association before a school can be established.

The above are suggestions which if properly considered will make the present leadership of the association best positioned to make this move chat a new course, path and start a new paradigm for the school business.

T THE EDUPRENEUR^(R)