Back to school with tears! Private schools in fees hike bazaar

Private schools in fees hike bazaar…

School resumption has left us in panic –

Parents… Inordinate desire for profit responsible – Expert

… Poor standards of public schools need to be addressed –  Lecturer

One week after resumption of primary and secondary schools across the country,  many parents are struggling to pay fees and spurious levies charged by private schools which have become practically their first choice following the failure of public schools; BENJAMIN SAMSON reports.

Apart from the rich, most parents are finding it difficult to pay for the quality education they desire for their children. This is as most parents do not consider public schools an option given the decay in most of these schools, especially in terms of infrastructure.
Lamenting the ordeal she has passed since resumption of schools for the new academic year, a parent, Gladys Iyorha, told our reporter that, ” Parents live in palpable fear at the beginning of every academic year.  Proprietors, especially of secondary schools, do not wait again until the beginning of the academic year before sending notice of one increment or the other.
“If it is not notification of increase in school fees, it’s about bus fares, textbooks, uniforms, or development levies. We used to see private schools as an alternative to the overburdened public education system. But with the inflationary trends, I know the private school proprietors are not immune to the economic challenges facing the country, and they are often left with no choice but to increase  fees and pass them to parents.”
Blueprint Weekend investigation revealed that beyond the outragous fees these schools charge, private schools in Abuja and the surrounding state of Nasarawa charge students in examination classes way beyond the office cost for these external examination.
Blueprint Weekend reports that  the West African Examinations Council (WAEC’s) Senior Schools Certificate Examinations (SSCE), fees range from N40,000 and above each against the recommended N18,000, pegged by the examination body.
WAEC, had during the announcement of the release of the 2021 May/June results of the SSCE, announced the increment of the registration fee for its examination from N13,950 to N18,000, which is still far below the N40,000 charged by private schools.
The increment, which amounts to about 29 per cent, according to the council, began with the 2022 senior school certificate examination (SSCE).
A parent who identified himself as James Mamuda in Nyanya Area of the FCT, told our reporter that he paid N40,000 for his son’s WAEC registration last year. This, he said, was outside school fees and other charges.
“My son wrote the last WAEC and NECO. I’m not aware that the registration fee recommended by the federal government is N18,000. As parents or guardians. We all paid the same amount to the school.
“If the government does not enforce  uniformed registration fee set for both WAEC and NECO across the country and put in place a disciplinary measure to curtail it, there is nothing we can do as parents or guardians,’’ he said.

Educationist speak
A retired principal at Government Secondary School Wuse, Mr. Isa Okpanachi, said the desire to make inordinate gain from parents was responsible for the spurious charges.
He said: “It has been found that the operators of these private schools also compel parents to buy different school uniforms, one uniform to be worn from Monday to Wednesday, while another uniform is to be used from Thursday to Friday.
“Shockingly, in between these multiple uniforms, there are also sport wears. These uniforms cost huge sums of money and increase the wage bills of parents and guardians.
“There are also other arbitrary levies charged by these private school owners such as development and entrepreneurship levies without the relevant tools for practical works that will enable the students to actualise the proposed knowledge; fee for diction in English Language in the absence of a language laboratory that is actually needed for language learning and understanding.
“Moreover, at the end of every academic year, these schools would levy parents as much as N10,000, N20,000, N40,000, depending on the school in terms of location, popularity and acceptability of the school concerned, for some end of the year party.
“Furthermore, in most of these schools, parents are also found to be mandated to buy books-textbooks and notebooks for their children and wards at very exorbitant prices even though they can get such books outside the schools at much cheaper prices which these private school operators will never approve of. All these measures are taken by private operators just to make inordinate gains from parents.”

Public school’s failure, private school’s gain
In an interview with our reporter, a Lecturer in the Department of Education Psychology at the College of Education Akwanga, Nasarawa state, Mrs. Maryam Augie, said the anomalies in private schools are thriving because of the poor state of public schools across the country.
She said: “These anomalies have subsisted unabated because there seems to be no viable alternative options as a result of the short supply and poor standards of public schools.
“Private schools are especially established as business ventures. Therefore, owners are driven by profit making. The aim of any business is to maximize profit and minimise cost, and that will affect charges starting from the overhead to depreciation.
”We are also aware that the quality of teachers in most of these schools is below standard as many of them lack relevant qualifications.
“However, the rush to patronise private schools in Nigeria is hinged on inadequate number of public schools as well as the waning standard of these public schools. In the 1970s and 80s, when there were no private schools in the country but only public schools, the standard of public schools used to be top-notch. But it is sad that today, across the country, the public schools are largely suffering from government negligence leading to their falling standard. As such, private schools continue to hold sway even as many of their owners continue to short change parents in the name of profit maximisation.
“To put a check on this trend, we, therefore, urge government at all levels, federal, state and local government, to pay more attention to the revitalisation of public schools.
“They must invest adequately in public schools in terms of physical infrastructure, facilities, and quality teachers. More so, there has to be adequate quality public schools to cater to the teaming population of children school age across the country. In other words, the government must begin to implement UNESCO’s recommended 26 per cent annual budgetary allocation to the education sector. This would help bring back the lost glory of public schools.
“More so, it will ensure there is a robust competition between the private and public schools in terms of quality and service delivery. It must be emphasized that basic education; primary and secondary, has to be a right and not a privilege.
“Moreover, it is not in doubt that the lack of adequate public schools and inability of many parents to afford the private ones is one of the basic factors affecting the level of school enrollment by children of school age across the country, especially in the north. It is heartbreaking that Nigeria currently has 13 million out of school children roaming the streets across the country. There is no doubt that this figure is staggering.
“I believe that with more standard public schools, the patronage of private schools and payment of arbitrary fees and levies will be reduced to reasonable levels as viable alternatives would have been provided by the public schools.”

Govt’s failure
In an interview with our reporter, the National Publicity Secretary,
National Parent, Teachers Association of Nigeria (NAPTAN) Kogi state Chapter, Mallam Abdulrasaq Adeiza, said governments at various levels have failed the people and exposed them to exploitation.
Mallam Adeiza maintained that if the government had maintained quality in public schools as it was in the 70s and 80s, people will not be at the mercy of private school owners who run businesses for profit and without any regulation.
“Well, there is no way you will not expect private institutions to charge exorbitant fees when the government refused to do the needful, they believe they are doing business and in as much as many parents in Nigeria don’t believe in public school again due to lack of standard, there is no way they will not take that advantage.
“During our own time, there was nothing like private school, public schools then had a very good standard that can compete anywhere, even beyond the shores of Africa and the salaries of teachers were paid regularly until recently that we began to see huge sums of money in public sectors but not for teachers. That was the beginning of the problem.
“There was a time in this country that landlords will tell you that there’s vacancy but not for teachers because they will not pay.  How do you expect them to be motivated, to be encouraged, but in a nutshell, the truth of the matter is that the problem is from the government.’’

Proprietors react
However, a member of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools, NAPPS, in the FCT, who spoke with our reporter in confidence, disagreed that  fees and levies charged in private schools were on the high side.
He blamed inflation occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy as one of the reasons for levies charged by private schools.
He said: “Against the widespread belief that our members charge high fees and high levies. what we charge is just average fees compared to the overhead cost in the schools.
“Since the removal of subsidy by the present administration, our operational cost trippled. When you say private school, you expect all facilities to be up to date, functioning with experienced staff.
“You can not compare the type of equipment in our laboratories with what you have in public schools where they wait for government impress to buy reagents. No light, no generator, What about the quality of teachers, we pay teachers, even while students are on holiday and school fees are not paid by students.
“I’m sure if parents are not satisfied or getting value for the supposed high fees they pay, they would have withdrawn their wards to public schools.’’
Similarly, reacting to the development, PTA Chairman at a private school in Abuja, Segun Olaiya, said the issue of high fees and levies in private schools was not new.
“lf the private schools are charging high fees for pupils, it’s a private arrangement which is different from what’s obtainable in public schools. Any parent who sends his children to private school should know that he or she would have to pay more.
“So, it’s voluntary. You can’t expect public schools to ask for high school fees from pupils. That’s why the schools are called private schools, private arrangements. However, I don’t blame the private owners who are asking for high fees, so many things are involved in running the schools.’’

‘We face enormous challenges’
Likewise, the Chairperson of World Organisation for Early Childhood Education (OMEP), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Mrs. Bola Falore, explained the complex set of challenges being faced by private schools in Nigeria.
Highlighting the challenges, she said: “ Private schools often face high operational costs, including expenses for facilities, staff salaries, educational resources, and maintenance. Without adequate government support or subsidies, these costs become a burden, leading to financial strain.
“The absence of financial assistance or subsidies from the government places a heavier burden on private educational institutions. Unlike public schools, which receive funding from the government, private schools rely heavily on tuition fees and may struggle to cover their expenses.
“As operational costs rise, private schools may be compelled to increase tuition fees to sustain their operations.This, in turn, affects the affordability of education for the general populace. Families may find it challenging to meet the rising costs, leading to a potential decline in enrollment of learners.”