THE GUARDIAN
As primary and secondary schools resume nationwide for a new academic session this September, parents have expressed distress caused by the pressure they are grappling with in their bid to send their wards back to school following the hike in fees and the prices of sundry necessary items.
Although the parents acknowledged that September of each year is always laden with heavy expenses associated with school resumption, they lamented that the removal of petrol subsidy barely three months ago by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu immensely contributed to their current ordeals.
A tricycle (keke) rider in Asaba, Delta State, Mr. Jude Nwajei, told The Guardian that he would have loved to have the resumption date extended because “each time I remember the new fees I am going to pay for my three children in primary and secondary schools, and the fact that there’s no money for that yet, or in the nearest future, I feel I am not meeting my responsibility as a father.”
He lamented that the increase in fees came at a time his income was dwindling.
“I am a keke rider and since the increase in the price of petrol, the number of passengers has reduced and we have to spend more for petrol for the same distance, whether it’s full load or not. Now, I don’t go home with the kind of money I used to make in the past before the removal of subsidy.
“Upon that, schools have increased fees and the cost of books and everything about school has gone up. Many of us cannot send our children to school again. Some parents are thinking of changing their children’s schools, to take them to where school fees are less, though the quality may not be too good. The number of school drop-outs will increase and we hope this does not lead to increase in crime in the country.”
Another parent in Asaba, Ben Onyeji, said he had resolved to change school for his children because he could not afford the current fees announced by their school.
“The fees are now out of my reach and I cannot kill myself. Where do they expect us to get the money? Do they want us to steal? They don’t consider the common man in this country. Maybe they don’t want us to send our children to schools again, so that only their children would be educated.”
Onyeji, who is a trader, lamented that though the prices of his wares depend on the amount he bought them, patronage has nose-dived as customers complain of “no money.”
“They are not buying as they used to. We are making less profit, yet the cost of education is going high. How do we cope? It’s not everybody that has access to free money, so they should consider us. To feed now is even a problem and people are cutting down on luxuries. It has never been so bad for most of us in this country,” he lamented.
A parent, Mr. Marcel Echinile, said the subsidy removal was a big blow and had put unnecessary tension and pressure on him. He argued that the removal of subsidy by President Tinubu without putting any measures in place to cushion its effect was a serious setback to him and many other vulnerable Nigerians.
He said: “I was unable to pay school fees of my children last term. The school management would have sent my children back home because of the demonic removal of the fuel subsidy if not the understanding I had with the proprietor.
“School would soon resume, perhaps in two weeks time, I am only trusting in God to do miracle for the payment of my children’s fees. The unexpected fuel subsidy removal has really thrown me off balance in meeting the basic needs of my family.
“As I speak, I am planning to pull them from private school to public school, ditto other parents, to avoid unnecessary high blood pressure as a result of the satanic removal of the fuel subsidy.”
Another parent, Mr. Okafor Ogedima, said: “The situation is affecting me so much, considering my very lean resources. The subsidy removal issue is telling on all sectors of our lives. I’m not sure the palliatives will douse any tension emanating from this subsidy removal.
“For now, I’m not thinking of sending my children to school, but how to feed them. Have you been to the market of recent? If you have, you will know what I mean. In fact, this government should go beyond scratching the surface in dealing with the hardship caused by the subsidy removal.
“This is because income has remained virtually constant, as our small-scale businesses are not helped by the epileptic power supply, which still boils down to the use of fuel to run our generators, both at home and our places of work. It all results to square one.” He said the country’s economy had become inelastic and something has to be done urgently to ameliorate the hardship being suffered by the people.
A civil servant in Calabar, Cross River State, Mr. Emmanuel Itu, lamented that the thought of school resumption had been giving him sleepless nights.
“In fact, I have been grappling with how I am going to cope with payment of school fees, books and other charges for my four children.
“As a civil servant with a salary of under N100, 000 a month, how on earth can I pay school fees for my two children in Federal Government Girls College, Calabar, now that the Federal Government has increased fees in unity schools across the country by over 100 per cent?
“Before now, I was struggling to pay N45, 000 each for two of them per term, including other charges, but with this increase, I am required to cough out over N200, 000. As it stands now, I may be forced to move them to a public school before I completely grow grey hairs.”
A widow with three children, Mrs. Grace Iwuala, also stated: “I don’t want to think about school resumption, because I don’t know where to start from. With this very difficult economic situation in the country, worsened by the removal of fuel subsidy, I may resort to selling some of my properties to be able to meet up with payment of school fees.
“If the Federal Government can declare free education at all levels for just one year, it would go a long way in cushioning the effect of this hardship, instead of this N5 billion given to politicians to do what they like with it.”
A mother of one in Calabar, who identified herself as Sandra Igiri, said her daughter’s school sent her a hefty bill to pay as first term fees. According to her, all SS1 students of the school, which is her daughter’s class, are being charged N133, 000 each for the term, which includes tuition of N5, 000; N55,000 for listed books; two pairs of uniform cost N15,000; sport wears, N7, 000; day wear, N7,500; N3,500 for laboratory; N3,000 as development levy and N300, 00 for the Parents and Teachers Association (PTA) fees. I can tell you that most parents are not finding it easy to raise money to foot the new bill,” he lamented.
In Abuja, 45-year-old mother of three, Roseline Agboola, said she was looking for about N500, 000 to pay school fees of three children. Another parent, Amos Bulus, lamented that the situation was pathetic and overwhelming.
“One of my daughters has been promoted to senior secondary class and the tuition of N120, 000 has been hiked to N180, 000 while the fee for the other one in junior school has been increased from N80, 000 to 120, 000. School bus fees was increased by more than 100 per cent, from N30, 000 to N65, 000,” he said.
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