Why British internships are so anxious to open in Nigeria

For many years, the wealthy Nigerians have sent their children to prestigious British internships, but now some of these institutions are creating campus in the most populous nation in Africa.

Last year, Charterhouse launched a primary school in the city of Lagos and will open a high school this September.

The Rugby School will also begin to offer secondary education in September. Other known institutions, such as Millfield, Wellington School and Harrow, are also exploring opportunities in Nigeria.

Obviously, all this comes with a price for Nigerian parents, but the country’s wealthy elite has historically sent their children to the United Kingdom for secondary education, attracted to the rigor of the British curriculum, prestige and global opportunities.

“I am really excited about that,” says Karima Heye, a British-Nigerian management consultant, whose son is currently in Rugby in the United Kingdom, but will move to his Lagos school in September.

His family has intended to move to Nigeria for a while, but he has not done so due to the education of children.

“Having the opportunity to experience the British system in their country of origin is the best of both worlds,” she says.

Nigeria already has a proliferation of private schools, but high quality education and internationally recognized within the country will attract many parents, particularly those who wish to preserve the cultural identity of their children.

“African parents love the fact that they are giving their children the international position so that they can compete with their counterparts anywhere else in the world, but they do not want their children to lose their African,” says Ijay Uwakwe-Okoronkwo, founder of the Nkuzhi Learning Foundation in the capital of Nigeria, Abuya.

The educational consultant, who advises parents and schools on international shipping options, explains the most relaxed and less respectful attitude that children return after going to school abroad is not always appreciated.

This cultural dilemma extends to the growing conversation about LGBTQ problems. The relationship between people of the same sex and the public samples of affection are illegal in Nigeria and homosexuality is not discussed or promoted openly.

It is something that the new harvest of British schools has taken on board. For example, while Charterhouse UK shows an rainbow flag, Nigeria’s school no.

“We are a British independent school, but we feel firmly within Nigerian cultural needs,” says John Todd, Chief of Charterhouse Nigeria.

“There is this great concern about Western cultural views.

“For parents here, we know it is a really big problem. It is a reason why parents are concerned about the schools of the United Kingdom.

“I’m not making a judgment, that’s how it is.”

British institutions in Nigeria have no choice but to “follow land law,” he acknowledges, adding: “We are 100% compatible.”

Recognizing the deeply religious society of Nigeria, Charterhouse also allows parents to take their children to the House of the Pension for Sunday Church services, with the expectation that they return on Monday morning.

There are several reasons behind the growing interest of the prestigious British schools on the Opening Campus in Nigeria.

While regions such as the Middle East and China are already saturated with international schools, Africa is a relatively virgin territory.

“Nigeria is the entrance door to Africa, and Africa is a kind of continent for British schools to establish themselves,” says Mark Brooks, an export champion of the United Kingdom Business and Commerce Department.

Organize annual events in Nigeria, where around 20 British schools meet future students and parents.

“Nigeria has an incredible reputation for producing promoted and high performance students,” says Brooks.

“There is no school with which I have not recently done that a Nigerian student served as a boss or attached boss. A student can join the sixth form and end up being the head of the head in a year.

“I have brought hundreds of directors to Nigeria over the years, and the word is in the United Kingdom that we need to take Nigeria seriously.”

Time has also proven to be key, since the cost of sending children to the United Kingdom has shot. Only three years ago, the local currency exchange rate was 500 naira to £ 1; It is now in 2,200 Naira.

In addition to that, the Labor Government in the United Kingdom recently imposed 20% VAT in the rates of private schools.

Beyond registration, families face additional expenses and flights for both students and visiting parents.

Establishing these schools in Nigeria allows families to maintain the same education standard while significantly reducing financial tension.

The annual rates in Charterhouse UK, for example, cost around £ 60,000 ($ 78,000), while the rates on their lake campus are equivalent to approximately £ 15,000.

“Our main classroom teachers are expatriates, but 90% of the staff is local,” says Todd.

By using local people in roles such as assistant teachers, administration, finance, human resources, marketing, facilities, security, gardeners, drivers, pas and secretaries, the school can significantly reduce costs compared to the United Kingdom, where work is much more expensive.

There is already a vast educational gap in Nigeria, with many parents who opt for private education of variable quality. Many struggle to pay higher rates instead of sending their children to government schools, which are often free but plagued by poorly trained teachers and frequent strikes.

As a result, the arrival of British schools may not drastically change the Nigeria education system.

However, they could represent a threat to establish elite schools such as the British International School in Lagos and the Regent School in Abuja, which opened in the early 2000s.

These schools have long been the main options for those who can pay annual registration fees that often reach tens of thousands of dollars.

“The Rugby Nigeria school also comes to support, develop and learn from schools currently in Nigeria,” says Brooks, who is in charge of school marketing.

“We are also helping with associations, teacher training and a wide range of initiatives.”

Todd believes that the Nigerian market is large enough to accommodate all new schools without threatening existing ones. About 40% of the 200 million population is under 14.

Wait for the greatest impact on the United Kingdom.

While Charterhouse UK generally has a long waiting list and should not be affected, less requested internships may experience a decrease in registration due to the new competition in Nigeria.

“The interest in our high school is very strong,” says Todd. “We already have Nigerian parents in the United Kingdom sending their children to the house of the room in Nigeria for September.”

In fact, reaching the Nigerians in the United Kingdom has been one of their key marketing strategies.

“You get this main brand at a lower price, and each Nigerian has an aunt or uncle in Lagos” that can be a guardian, he adds.

It could be that this trend extends to British universities. The Nigerian tertiary education system faces even greater challenges than its secondary sector, with many students who choose to study abroad.

In 2023, Nigeria was among the 10 main countries for the visas of students in the United Kingdom, according to data from the United Kingdom government.

But with the difficulties of currencies and regulations of strictest visas, studying abroad is becoming increasingly challenging, and universities that depend on the highest international registration rates seem to suffer.

Earlier this month, British deputy Helen Hayes, president of the Parliamentary Education Committee, acknowledged that the United Kingdom Higher Education sector was in trouble.

“Doctors of universities are making dismissals and cuts to the courses, trying to stay afloat in the middle of the uncertainty about where their money comes from,” She said when announcing a session to consider the future of the sector.

If enough Nigerian students can no longer go to the United Kingdom to study, British universities can find profitable to come to them, as they have done in other parts of the world.

In fact, the premier university of Nigeria, the University of Ibadan, was established in 1948 as a campus of the University of London, with titles awarded with the same value and prestige.

Mrs. Uwakwe-Okoronkwo believes that many Nigerian parents would appreciate this opportunity, since it would allow their children to remain in Nigeria the long time to mature before moving abroad, if they choose to do it.

“Many parents are worried about sending their children out of the nest too early,” she says.

For Mrs. Hey, whose daughter will also begin at the Rugby School in Lagos in September, the time of all this could not be better.

She says that the opening of the British school has already been an “incentive to return home.”

The perspective of university opportunities would be a welcome bonus.

Adoobi Tricia Nwaubani is an independent Nigerian journalist and novelist based in Abuja and London.