By Samuel Okike
Claim:
Unlike in Nigeria, there are no private primary schools in the United States of America – El-Rufai
Rating: FALSE
Origin:
On 17 March 2018, the governor of Kaduna state Nasir El Rufai made a bogus claim that the are no privately owned primary schools in the United States of America while posting a series of tweet about his plans for education in the state.
“It’s striking to me that, United States of America, one of the most capitalist countries in the world, has no private primary schools. This makes us more determined to restore the quality of primary education in Kaduna.” ~ Gov Nasir @elrufai https://t.co/Y5qiiBriDG
A simple internet search proves this claim wrong. According to 2001 data by the National Center for Education Statistics, there were 92,858 elementary schools in the United State, out of which 68,173 were public and 24,685 were private.
More information on Wikipedia also explains that “majority of private schools in the United States are operated by religious institutions and organizations,” and that “private schools are generally exempt from most educational regulations at the Federal level but are highly regulated at the state level.”
Governor El Rufai was clearly trying to juxtapose the state of education in the United States with that in Nigeria in order to buttress his point, but in the process tweeted amiss.
He was quickly called out by his followers who also provided facts to debunk his claim.
Really, Mr. Governor @elrufai? My church, St. Matthew's Catholic Church, Tyrone, Georgia operates Our Lady of Victory that runs Pre-K to 9th Grade. Check your information before misinforming people.
— John Onuh (@onuhjohno) March 18, 2018
Lie! Lie! Governor. Stop talking nonsense. I know you want to close down all private primary schools in KD to deny them of CRK and History studies at early stage. https://t.co/jU3prcPqv6 @realDonaldTrump is this true? pic.twitter.com/gUM35I4d3u
— Jerry C A (@jerry35ca) March 17, 2018
https://twitter.com/ije12002/status/975046252407808000
Sources: