John Akinluyi, whose son attends a private school in Ajasa area of Lagos State, was angry when his little boy demanded N10,000 to pay for end of the year party in his school last December.
“What are they going to give the pupils? It is part of the many ways these private schools exploit and extort parents. They keep demanding fees for items they don’t have or offer the pupils. I won’t blame them, it is due to the kind of country we live in and the way we run it.
“Now, from Meiran where you have the Lagos State Model College, down to Ajasa where there is the Nigerian Army Command School to Obasanjo Farm and down to Toll Gate which is the boundary between Lagos and Ogun states, we have just two public secondary and two public primary schools. One of the secondary schools, Odualabe, is even a junior one that stops at JSS 3 class.
“One can now imagine where children of over 200,000 parents in those areas will attend school. That is why people are forced to put their children in private schools. The situation is not peculiar to Lagos. Go to any Nigerian town or city, you will notice that areas that are just developing always lack government’s presence regarding facilities such as schools, hospitals and others. It is because we don’t plan ahead,” he told Vanguard.
Abuja school fixes fees in US Dollars
As schools in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT Abuja, resume academic activities on Monday, parents and guardians of students in Stella Maris College, one of the leading private schools in the nation’s capital city, are expected to pay fees and other charges in United States Dollars.
Vanguard gathered that it is not a new development as the school had always accepted payments of fees and other levies in foreign currency.
As gathered from the website, the school sets its 2022 school fees at $14,940. This comprises student’s fee per annum which stands at $13,870; compulsory maintenance and capital levies, otherwise, called family fees (billed to eldest students at $350 and $720, respectively).
The school explained in its prospectus that the maintenance levy “is a compulsory levy to enable the college embark on long-term maintenance.’’
It stated further: “Parents may choose to be involved in the college and give off their time in lieu of their payment by volunteering in the canteen or uniform shop.
“Capital Works Levy is a compulsory levy for building projects. The capital levy is set each year by the college and approved by the Board of Directors. The income from the levy contributes to the capital costs of the college buildings, infrastructure and construction of facilities, as this amount forms a collectible part of school fees, no tax deduction is possible.’’
As observed, there is what is called “Voluntary Building Fund in the school. This levy which $400, is recommended per family, according to the school, ”is an optional payment of any amount paid to Stella Maris College Building Fund. You may claim a tax deduction for these payments.”
Other charges such as dance, drama and music were also seen.
Expectations from parents as schools resume
Some private schools in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, released a list of fees and other payments expected of returning and new students.
A prospectus released by Victory College, one of the many private schools in Karu area of the FCT, showed that besides school fees,students of the school are expected to pay for security, websites, magazines and what it described as “skool media.”
Read the full story in Vanguard
