Parents Protest Hike In Students School Fees

Parents from various parts of the country carried placards reading, “Making payment N12,000 for textbooks must be abolished,” “Payment of insurance fee is Illegal,” “Payment of N15,000 by returning students to SS1 for uniform is Illegal,” and so on.

A parent, Imam Abdulhamid Eleshinla, said making purchase of textbooks at the rate of N12,000 compulsory for each student irrespective of whether they needed them or not was another source of concern to parents.

Efforts made to speak with the principal of the school, Mrs. Rita Okpaleke proved abortive as she refused to comment.

In Federal Government Girls College (FGGC) Bauchi , a parent, Mohammed Shettima who brought his child from Yobe, said that he paid a little over N80,000 for his child as a new intake in 2015 and he paid N47,000 for her this year as a returning student.

He said that he had not seen any significant difference in what he paid last year and what he paid in 2016 despite the reported increment in school fees.

Another parent, a woman, who brought her child from Bauchi town said she paid N54,500 including a N2,000 PTA levy.

While speaking to our reporter on the condition of anonymity, she said, “To me the school fee is fair compared to what is obtained in Private schools.”

In Lagos, many parents have expressed dismay over hike in school fees of their kids even as some of them have chosen to withdraw their wards from high-paying to low-paying schools.

Recall that few weeks back, the National Parents and Teachers Association of the Federal Government Colleges has protested against the increase in the school fees of unity schools by the Federal Government, describing it as “commercialisation of education.”

The association warned that the new fees, if not reversed, would force parents to withdraw their children from the unity colleges.

The association in a communiqué read to journalists by its National President, Dr. Gabriel Nnaji, at the end of its National Executive Council meeting, said the increment from N20,000 to N75,000 was untimely and insensitive by the government.