Parents Lament Increase Of Tuition Fees In Unity Schools

Some parents whose children and wards are schooling at Federal Government Colleges in Enugu, weekend, say the increase of tuition fees from N45, 000 to N100, 000 is ‘ill-timed’.

Recall that the Federal Ministry Education announced the increase yesterday in a memo issued from the office of the director of Senior Secondary Education Department which was signed by its director, Hajia Binta Abdulkadir.

Parents that spoke with THE WHISTLER said the development is an indication that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has an agenda for Nigerians different from his party’s manifesto.

Janet Nnamani is a widow. She said, “The All Progressives Congress, during its campaign, assured Nigerians of better days ahead, including quality and affordable education. But the opposite is becoming the case. I have two children schooling at the Federal Government College. They were there before the death of my husband. I have been managing to train them from my meagre resources.

“With this increase, I have the only option of withdrawing them from there. Even if I sell whatever I have, I won’t be able to pay the new fees because I have other children in schools. This Tinubu government is creating poverty already. With the increase in prices of petroleum products, the latest hike in tuition fees for unity school students is a measure to strangulate the poor.”

A retired head teacher, Mr Sylvanus Ekwueme, called on President Tinubu to reconsider some of his policies to avoid creating a vacuum that will be retrogressive. In his words, “If he succeeds in denying our children quality education in the name of addressing the nation’s education needs, what has he achieved? If parents are made to suffer this way, the implication is that some of them will go into depression because the future of their children is becoming bleak. I expect Tinubu to cut the cost of governance to save money other than his harsh policies that are gradually making Nigerian youths hopeless and crime-prone.”

Dr John Iyaya is a psychologist. He said, “What I expect Tinubu to do is to address Nigerian problems sector by sector. If he is increasing the cost of education, which, to me is wrong, he should make the cost of agricultural input affordable. He should also make health facilities affordable, maybe through insurance policies. Presently, I think Tinubu is in a hurry or he didn’t understand the complexities of this country when he campaigned to become the president. May he not send Nigerian youths to protest. What happened during the EndSars should warn him about the consequences of being insensitive.”