The decision of the Federal Government to increase PTA Levy in its unity colleges has elicited anger from parents, who are expressing disgust at the increment which is over 100 per cent.

The FG, in a circular dated March 18, 2025 and endorsed by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Dr. Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, said the government has increased the levy from N5,700 to N12,000 per term.

The circular, addressed to all Principals, Federal Unity Colleges, read: ?Following the receipt of multiple requests from various PTA bodies in Federal Unity Colleges (FUCs) seeking an increase in the PTA levy to enable them fulfill their obligations within the colleges, the ministry has approved a revised PTA levy.

?The new levy will take effect from the third term of the 2024/2025 academic session.?

Meanwhile, parents from across the colleges are piqued about the development, saying it was a clever way of increasing tuition in the schools.

Recall that only few months ago, the government jacked up the tuition fee from N45,000 to N100,000.

A parent, whose daughter attends Federal Government College, Ijanikin, wondered why the government took such a step at this point in time.

?This is uncalled for. Not at this point in time. People are already burdened by taxes, levies and other payments to the government in many ways and the economic crunch is weighing down on people heavily. In many unity colleges, the issue of the administration of the PTA levy has created trouble.

?Only recently, the manner the levy was administered here by the then PTA executive resulted into court cases and even became a matter of discussion in the media. How are we sure that funds generated through the new rate would be judiciously managed? Some principals are just feasting on the levy by conniving with PTA leaders,? Babatunde, other name withheld, said.

Apart from the approved levy by the government, most of the colleges also have sundry levies imposed on the students.

For instance, the breakdown of PTA levy paid by parents at King?s College, Lagos, includes access card ? N1,000, diesel/waste ? N4,000, education levy ? N2,000, feeding support ? N2,000, PTA levy ? N5,000 and PTA teachers? wages ? N5,700.

PTA levies that are optional are laundry ? N9,000, barbing ? N1,000 and mid-day meal ? N15,000.

NAPTAN calls for improvement

Meanwhile, parents under the aegis of the National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria, NAPTAN, have expressed disgust at the state of facilities in unity colleges in the country.

Their stance is coming on the heels of recent developments in some of the schools across the country.

Speaking in a chat with this paper, the National President of NAPTAN, Alhaji Haruna Danjuma, said if Kings College, an elite school among the Unity Colleges, could be in such a bad situation, the conditions of other colleges should be better imagined.

?We have been calling for adequate attention to education in the country. No nation can develop beyond the level and state of its education system. If Unity Colleges that are deemed to be special schools are in such deplorable state, what do we expect to see in other schools?

?A visit to any of our public schools would reveal over-crowded classrooms, broken down and inadequate furniture and other items. The teachers are not enough and it has been the PTA in many instances that employ teachers to fill the gap. When they are talking about the state of facilities, that affects the welfare of students and their teachers too.

?We are appealing to the government to please pay adequate attention to the education sector. We appreciate some steps being taken by the government but more efforts must be put in place to make things better. The food being served the students in the hostels is not good enough. We are also using this opportunity to call on the state governments to cooperate with the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, in the funding of projects and the payment of counterpart funding,? he said.

Danjuma also charged the management of the colleges to also make judicious use of the funds allocated to the colleges. (Vanguard)

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