Parents and guardians have expressed sadness over the high tuition fees they are now to pay as their children and wards returned to school on Monday for a new academic term after the Christmas holiday.

Generally, most schools in the country including Lagos, Oyo, Kano, and several other states have resumed for the second term of the current academic year with some of them, especially the privately-owned, have started lessons.

The parents said they were already in financial mess due to economic hardship which most Nigerians are battling with and that to now confront the increased school fees in the New Year is another heavy burden that is giving them lots of worries.

They said even though they would not completely blame school owners for jerking up their fees, this is not the right time to do so.

They however, blamed governments at both federal and state levels for plunging Nigeria’s economy into this mess and still increased their own school fees, especially in federal government colleges and universities last year at the beginning of the current academic year.

One of them and a father of two, Mr Moshood Osunfunrewa narrated how it was difficult for him to meet up with the payment of his children’s school fees last term.

According to him, his two children are attending the same private school in Ajegunle area of Lagos and each of them paid N54,000 last term and now they have to pay N65,900 each and additional N15,000 for extra curriculum activities.

He pointed out that now that he is to pay N160,000 for both of them this term, he is not certain as to where and how to raise the money.

He said, “My wife and I are low-income earners and we find it difficult to save because our earnings are not enough to feed, transport, pay rent, and do some other mandatory needs.

“But very soon now, schools will begin to ask for payment of our children school fees and enforce same as a condition to allow them to receive lessons. And we all know the implications of this for parents who can’t respond accordingly,” he stressed.

Another parent, Mr Solomon Omodiagbon, a technician, whose children schooling in Ogun State also told Nigerian Tribune that he doesn’t know how he would be able to pay for his children’s school fees.

According to him, only one out of his three children is attending public school while the rest attend private schools whose tuition fees have gone up by about 30 per cent.

He explained that business activities in January are usually dull, especially for technicians like himself.

He noted that this happens not only because most families no longer have savings because they live on low incomes but also because the prices of goods and services in the country are simply too high and have gone out of reach for many families.

Omodiagbon, just like every other parent, however, urged government at all levels to wake up and find working solution that would end or reduce to the barest minimum mass poverty and hunger in the country.

Reacting to this development, the private school owners pleaded with the parents for understanding of their plights which necessitated the increase in their school fees.

They said it was a very hard decision for them to jerk up their fees but did so to remain in business.

They said the cost of running schools in the country just like running other businesses kept increasing by the day.

The National President, League of Muslim School Proprietors(LEAMP), Abdulwahid Obalakun, and that of the Association of Formidable Education Development (AFED), Chris Orji, in a separate interview with Nigerian Tribune said their members would have loved not to increase the fees but because that remains the only option to sustain their operations.

They said they did not even charge based on inflation and value of knowledge imparted to their students but charged something that would keep their operations running.

They said government policies at all levels are not also helping the situation as they and their agencies have turned private schools into revenue-generating platforms.

According to them, government collects all manner of taxes from us as levies and they make payment mandatory for us.

They argued that whereas governments are supposed to treat private schools as partners in providing education, which is a social service, to Nigeria’s children. (Nigerian Tribune)

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