International Day of Education: SPEC to launch its research report

PRESS STATEMENT
Save Public Education Campaign (SPEC)
On the International Day of Education

Date: 24^th January, 2026

International Day of Education

SPEC to launch its research report

As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to mark the International Day of Education, the Save Public Education Campaign (SPEC) states clearly and unequivocally that this occasion must go beyond ceremonial speeches and official slogans. For millions of students, teachers, and parents across the country, education is today in deep crisis.

SPEC to launch its research report on the education crisis in FCT in the coming period, the campaign platform did research work by administering questionnaires to students, teachers and parents across the FCT.

International Day of Education is meant to reaffirm governments’ commitments to inclusive, equitable, and quality education for all. Yet in Nigeria, public education continues to suffer from chronic underfunding, collapsing infrastructure, overcrowded classrooms, insecurity, poor sanitation, and the repeated disruption of academic calendars.

SPEC notes with grave concern that universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, and primary and secondary schools are all trapped in cycles of neglect. The long-standing disputes involving the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), and other education-sector unions are not isolated incidents; they are symptoms of a deeper structural failure to prioritise education as a public good.

These crises—over funding, salaries, facilities, governance, and working conditions—have resulted in repeated strikes, prolonged closures, and learning disruptions that disproportionately affect working-class families who cannot afford private alternatives. Students lose precious years, research output declines, and public confidence in the system erodes further.

In Abuja FCT and across the country, SPEC’s engagements with communities and schools continue to reveal alarming realities: schools operating without adequate security, pupils learning in dilapidated classrooms, and toilet facilities in deplorable conditions that threaten students’ health and dignity. These are not abstract policy failures—they are daily experiences for Nigerian children.

The wider crisis in the education sector also intersects with Nigeria’s broader social and economic challenges: rising poverty, insecurity, inflation, and youth unemployment. An underfunded and unstable education system cannot produce the skilled, confident, and socially conscious citizens needed to confront these national problems.

On this International Day of Education, SPEC therefore calls on the Federal Government, state governments, and the FCT Administration to:

• Substantially increase education funding in line with national needs and international benchmarks.
• Address the root causes of disputes with ASUU, ASUP, and other unions through transparent negotiations and full implementation of agreements.
• Invest urgently in infrastructure, including classrooms, laboratories, hostels, libraries, and sanitation facilities.
• Guarantee security in and around schools to protect students and staff.
• Recruit and properly remunerate teachers and lecturers, while supporting continuous training and research.
• Ensure accountability and public oversight in education spending.

SPEC stresses that education is not a privilege—it is a right and the foundation of national development. A country that neglects its schools mortgages its future.

As we mark this global day, SPEC stands in solidarity with students, education workers, parents, and communities demanding a properly funded, safe, and democratic public education system in Nigeria. We urge citizens, civil society organisations, and the media to use this moment to intensify advocacy and pressure on all levels of government to act decisively.

Nigeria’s children and youth deserve classrooms, not collapsed roofs; stability, not endless disruption; dignity, not neglect.

Signed:
Save Public Education Campaign (SPEC)

Comrade Vivian Bello

07039370306

Convener