•Ibadan: Parents now hire Okada to convey their children to school •‘Bills are rising like ‘soaked garri’ on a daily basis’ • We need revenue to stay afloat –Private schools

Preamble

As pupils resume for the new academic calendar, the poor state of public schools has once again brought under spotlight, as private schools now take advantage of that while hiding under galloping inflation to increase their fees and other sundry payments, arbitrarily.

M any commentators are of the view that the dwindling fortune of public schools appears to have defeated the purpose for which they were established and further sank the education sector in deeper mud.

This, according to them, has given rise to all manners of private schools in Nigeria. Today, different private schools spring up under different names and standards. The government, which is supposed to be a check on the influx of these mushroom schools, is as guilty as those private individuals that are establishing them.

A government that cannot provide a desk, with which students in government schools could write, in the words of an educationist, Dr Ignatius Ezoem, lacks the moral justification to question the setting up of a sub-standard school.

For proper understating of the pathetic situation, a narrow, creaky, and decaying wooden-bridge that provides the only access to one of the public primary schools located in the Ikorodu axis of Lagos State, captures the extent Nigeria’s educational system has sunk.

Looking more like a medieval cage, many of the wooden small classrooms in the school only have benches without chairs. The interiors are moist just like the murky marches all around. The dingy corners, however, provide excellent sanctuaries for swarming throng of mosquitoes.

Through the parallel gaps that run across the wooden floors, the pupils are constantly faced with the sights and sounds of their amphibious neighbours, breeding and luxuriating in the stagnant waters below.

And like all other houses in such miserable corners of this Lagos suburb, the school buildings stand in vulgar, wobbly pose, defiantly threatening to disintegrate any moment. Yet, the school is not alone in this neglect.

Most others across the federation are equally in terrible states, except for the high class privately-owned ones, populated by the very rich in the Nigerian society.

These pathetic conditions of some of the public schools however, have not deterred most parents from withdrawing their children from privately-owned schools because of what they termed “incessant and arbitrary” increment in school fees and other sundry payments in the private institutions.

The private schools have hinged their actions on the galloping inflation in the country as many of them say they can no longer cope without a corresponding increase in school fees.

This, however, has left parents frustrated. As schools resume, frustrations of parents are heightened by the fear that proprietors of these schools across all levels would carry out their threat to increase their tuition and impose multiple charges and levies due to the high rate of inflation ravaging the country.

This, as expected, is driving most parents to the precipice as many of them now struggle to feed their families. Some of them, who spoke with this reporter, noted that the educational needs of their pupils would be adding to the burden they are already grap pling with. –

To some of the parents, a new academic session, especially at primary and secondary school levels, means a demand for new textbooks, exercise books, uniforms, schoolbags, and other necessary school needs. This is because many brilliant pupils will be going to a new class, which comes with a new demand.

However, the parents have said for them to manage the rising cost of education, the governments at all levels need to think out alternative strategies to cushion the effects of the economic difficulties. Some have also advised fellow parents to re-strategise if their children must remain in school.

Lagos: Parents are withdrawing their children from private to public schools

A woman who lives in the Ogba axis of Lagos State, Mrs Juliet Ehunsi, told Saturday Telegraph that as a single parent she can no longer cope with the astronomical increase in school fees and other sundry items in private schools.

Ehunsi said she has decided to cut her coat according to what she can afford by removing her two children from a private primary school to a public school within her locality. She said: “I have decided to send my children back to public school where there are no school fees to be paid.

Although we can strive to buy books and uniforms, removing the school fees will relieve me of a huge burden. “When I look at the cost of what we are to shoulder in the public school. It’s nothing compared to what we are supposed to be paying this term in the previous private school they were attending.

“This is not the time to look at what other people are doing, after all some of these so-called private schools are not doing better than the public schools, academically. Why killing myself for what I cannot afford?”

Owerri: ‘We need revenue to stay afloat’

Just like in Lagos State, parents are also lamenting and alleging that most private nursery, primary and secondary schools in Owerri, the Imo State capital, have adopted the practice of increasing tuition every new academic session despite the current economic hardship.

An Owerri businessman, Chief Chukwurah Omaliko, who spoke to one of our reporters, complained that school tuition is eating into his business and forcing him to adjust and take some costly measures to stabilise his business every year.

He said: “For the past two or three years now, after paying school fees every new session, I have to go to our thrift group to borrow money to stabilise my business or else the business may not be able to fund the fees the next time.

“This is largely because most schools increase their fees every new session in very disproportionate measures without any recourse to the price impact on parents and guardians who are struggling to survive the harsh economic realities of the country.”

Ms Sarah Ihiegbula, a university staff member and single mother, was particularly distressed, saying that the penchant of private schools to increase school fees every new session was annoying and often destabilised parents struggling to manage very limited resources.

“I am particularly hurt because these arbitrary increments destroy one’s plans. Times are tough; not even the planning is easy and school resumes, and they send us circulars bearing strange figures and they expect us to pay without making a fuss.

Not me, I will talk. “They must hear my voice. They have to deal with us with a human face and as humans, not without regard. Well, the good thing here is that my children’s school allows us to pay in instalments. This takes a lot of pressure off my back,” she said.

However, an administrative staff of Little Rock School, Owerri, who craved anonymity as she was not authorised to speak on the matter, said their fees have been moderate and the same over a long period of time.

She said: “Our increment in fees was occasioned by the economic realities on ground which every Nigerian is aware of. Sustaining academic standards costs money and this school’s management is firm on maintaining standards.

Will you prefer a situation where schools are shutting down because they cannot keep up with their overhead cost? “This will ultimately put children of school age at the risk of getting educated under compromised standards.

We are improving our curriculum; we are training and re-training teachers to meet new standards in line with global best practices and of course we are engaging only qualified teachers, and all these cost money. “We also take care of our infrastructure.

What about learning and instructional materials; what about the extra-curricular aspect of education; what about security and other logistics that keep the school running efficiently? “We clearly understand the sacrifices of our parents, but they should also try and appreciate the excruciating challenges we face as a school.

This is also why we have adopted a rebate system for many parents, especially those with many of their children in this school. “Apparently, nobody will tell you about this rebate where we slash as much as 20% from their tuition.

The bottom line is that the economic situation in the country has reached a crisis point and it is affecting both parents and schools. Nevertheless, we will keep working to find mutually beneficial solutions to these trying times.”

Enugu: Proprietors attribute increment to rise in licence fee govt collects

As nursery, primary and secondary schools resume for the first term in Enugu, parents have cried out over what they referred to as high cost of living, as well as increase in transportation and school fees, especially in private schools in the state.

Aside from the increase in the cost of transportation, school fees and dormitory fees, the parents also lament the high cost of exercise and textbooks. Some of the parents who have two or more children in private school now contemplate withdrawing them and

enrolling them in public schools. They stressed that the reason they enrolled their children in private schools in the first place was because of declining standard and incessant strikes in public schools.

Onyekachi Edeh, who spoke to Saturday Telegraph in Enugu, said he had three children in a Mission school. Edeh lamented that the school fees have increased just as dormitory fees as well as transportation for those that go to school from home.

He said before now, the school charge about N75,000 to N80,000 for school fees and notebooks, excluding textbooks and dormitory fees. But now the school has increased the fees to between N155,000 and N170,000.

Transportation from his Emene residence to Enugu metropolis, he added, is now N700 to N900 as against N500 (going and coming back) they pay before now.

Another parent, Odiegwu Michael, whose three children are in public schools – two in secondary and one in primary school, said that although the school has not increased the tuition fees, the cost of textbooks are now out of reach.

He also lamented the general cost of living and transportation, saying that he will be forced to withdraw the children from the current school to a nearby one due to high cost of transportation occasioned by high cost of fuel.

A proprietor of a private school, who spoke to our reporter on the condition that his school and name will not be mentioned, attributed the increment in school fees, and cost of books to the high cost of everything which also affects the teaching staff and other workers.

He also attributed the increment to the recent increase in licence fee the private schools pay to the state government. He added that private schools now pay between N1,000,000 and N3,000,000 depending on how many levels or categories of schools they operate.

Abuja: Bills are rising like ‘soaked garri’ on a daily basis

In the FCT, Mrs Aghogho Martins

has raised concerns over the high cost of fees charged by schools at a time when people were struggling to survive. “For over two years I was paying N15,000 as my son’s crèche fee.

I was preparing my mind for at least between N50,000 and N70,000 for his pre-kindergarten class. Imagine my shock when I was told the total package for my less than three-year-old was around N194,000.

According to the school, the fees and other charges had just been reviewed from a total of about N110,000 to that outrageous amount. “I had to insist some charges be removed; the implication of that is my son will not participate in some of the extracurricular activities,” Martins said.

Another parent, Mrs Helen Moriamo, who also lamented the hike in fees, noted that she had to reprioritise her expenditure, let go of some philanthropic gestures she had been engaged in for years.

She added: “This is one of the worst governments we’ve had as a country. The hyperinflation is making everyone go back to the drawing board to reprioritise. My husband just paid almost N800,000 for the fees of our three children.

“Their bus fee has also been increased by almost 50%. Food, electricity, and water bills are rising like ‘soaked garri’ on a daily basis. “Some of our relatives and indigent children we’ve been supporting with their education will have to suffer for it.

Our income can no longer match our expenditure. Since we’re not government workers, there is no hope of salary increase whenever payment of the minimum wage commences. “With the increase in the school bus fare, we decided to pay only for morning pick up.

We will find our way round their return from school one way or the other. “The saddest part is in less than three months we will be expected to make at least half or slightly more than half of the amount we’ve paid because second and third terms are usually cheaper.”

A staff member at Destiny International School, who declined mentioning her name in print, said the increase in fees had resulted in a decline in the number of students who resumed school this term.

The school is going to suffer the consequences of that as it will definitely affect the school’s income and expenses. “I may be right or wrong being that school just resumed, but we have noticed that not all our students resumed.

Like I said, it’s just the first week; it might improve from next week and the week after. “Most parents have been complaining about the increase in fees, but the school will not be able to survive without such.

A lot of changes are also being contemplated by the management to cut down on expenditure. As it is now, we are even scared of possible retrenchment of some of our staff,” she added.

Delta: A parent blames rising cost of education on greed

The biting economic situation in Nigeria has also become heartbreaking to parents and guardians in Delta State, following the skyrocketing school fees, costs of writing materials, uniform, feeding and accommodations of their school age children.

Parents and guardians across the oil rich state are in untold agony and complaining bitterly about sudden hike in school fees and sundry levies when they are yet to feed well and pay their house rent.

The rising costs assumed a dangerous twist across Delta State as proprietors of public and private schools (institutions) have hinged their decisions to hike school fees on the fuel subsidy removal by the Federal Government and the recent price hike of petroleum products to over N1,200 a litre of fuel.

The proprietor of a popular, The Skyset Academy Group of Schools, private school at Okpanam in Oshimili North Local Government Area of the state, Carl Ofonye, told Saturday Telegraph in Asaba, that the cost of running schools now has more than doubled, saying that such increase warranted the high cost of fees and levies.

He said: “Besides the fuel subsidy removal and its sundry brouhaha, the recent increase of minimum wage to N70,000 by the Federal Government added to increase in fees and levies in private schools because the teachers therein, must be well paid too.

“Where are their salaries going to come from, if not school fees? Students in boarding houses must feed. Are we not going to the same market? “Think of epileptic power supply, or call it total blackout, that has become the order of the day in the country; that is not also helping the situation?

I cannot quantify how much petrol and diesel we buy in a month to run our facilities; that is, computers, buses, and laboratories, for the school to function optimally. And you know the cost per litre.”

A widow and retiree in the state, who identified herself only as Madam Oyinyechi, blamed the rising cost of living, education system and decadence on greed of political and religious leaders.

She noted: “When the foundation is destroyed, what can they do? The economic situation in the country is what is giving rise to banditry, touting, kidnapping, ritual killings and terrorism.

When a child cannot go to school because of high school fees, and he or she is seeing education as a scam, what do you expect at the end of the day?

“Imagine that the children of the poor, not even the poorest of the poor, cannot pay to attend the schools the congregation contributed and donated money to churches to build in this country.

Imagine that we cannot afford the price of our God-given petrol, thereby causing hardship to the citizens, affecting all sectors of the economy negatively, including education, and forcing the sector into decadence on a daily basis.”

Ibadan: Parents now hire Okada to convey their children to school

Though in Oyo State, tuition is totally free for pupils and students in public primary and secondary schools, students in private schools are currently being faced with financial burdens as a result of increment in school fees and other special events.

At the Olivet Baptist Academy, Mission schools located in Oyo Town, many parents are complaining about the astronomical increase in their wards’ fees. Last year, the boarding SS3 students paid N307,000 per term, but a few weeks ago, they received a bill of N531,500.

Their Day students, who will not pay for boarding facilities have to cough out a huge sum too to cover for both school fee and other sundry payments. The situation applies to other classes including the JSS.

The announcement has sparked uproar as some parents have threatened to withdraw their children from the school. A parent even queried how a student could spend N270,000 on feeding and hostel accommodation in three months that make a term, describing it a rip-off.

At Caritas International School, another parent who introduced himself only as Jegede, said the situation is not too different in his children’s school with increments ranging between N300,000 and N500,000 depending on cost of activities and uniforms.

He told our reporter that he has decided not to pay for the school bus any longer. “Instead, I have hired an Okada man that will be conveying my two children to school. The cost is cheaper than what the school is charging for their bus, though the risk of Okada is higher,” he added.