FG Reads Riot Act Over Unauthorized Fees In Unity Schools

Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, who gave the warning in Abuja, said the notice became necessary following incessant media reports that some Principals of Federal Government Colleges were collecting school fees well over the amount authorized by the Ministry.

Adamu, who could not immediately supply figures of the authorized fees, referred students to the ministry’s website for details, while advising parents whose wards are in Unity Colleges to report any infraction to the directive for appropriate sanctions.

It would be recalled that the ministry of education recently announced an increase of fees in unity colleges from N20,000 to over, N75,000.

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The minister, in a statement by the Deputy Director of Press, Mr. Ben Bem Goong, said one of the pillars of his Ministerial Action Plan “Education for Change” which will soon be launched is to make education accessible and affordable to all Nigerians, maintaining that he will not tolerate any act capable of sabotaging this goal.

Adamu also directed that all authorized cost items, including boarding fees must be communicated to parents in writing and copied to the Ministry before any payment is demanded, adding that any Principal who does otherwise will have his or herself to blame.

He said time has come for Nigerians to enjoy the benefits of Change which they voted for and that he will stop at nothing to deliver same in the education sector.

According to the minister, part of the reasons for the recent harmonization of fees in Unity Colleges was to ensure that parents pay averagely less, as well as eliminate indiscriminate collections that made parents in some Unity Schools to pay much higher than their counterparts in other Unity Colleges.