Parents mull withdrawal of their children as private schools hike fees

Parents across Nigeria have lamented the hike in private primary and secondary schools fees.

According to a report by DailyTrust, some of the parents blamed their predicaments on the state of public schools. They claimed if public schools are functioning well, they would have no justification for taking their children to private schools.

A parent identified as Abdullahi Usman, whose two children attend a private primary school around Life Camp in Abuja, said, “The increment is appalling. We used to pay N200, 000 per child per term in primary school but it is now N280, 000. This excludes uniforms and books.”

Jeniffer Samuel said the fees for her four-year-old granddaughter who is going to nursery one is N170,000.

“Her father would also have to buy uniforms and books from the school…It is sad because they don’t allow parents to go to the market and buy uniforms. They make a lot of fortune from it.” 

Asked why she will not take the girl to a public school, which is free, Jenifer said, “We all attended public schools during our days but the dynamics are different now. This is the truth; if you want your children to excel, you have to pay heavily for their education,” she said.

Another parent, Mr Kelvin Oji said her children’s school increased fees by 25 per cent for the new session.

“I didn’t even go through the paper to know why they are charging because it has become a norm, they always increase fees.

“The last two sessions recorded 10 and 15 per cent increment, but now they have raised it by 25 per cent,” he said.

Abdulkadir Abubakar, a trader in Kano and father of three, said that the increment was meant to exploit parents. 

“I don’t see any reason why the schools are increasing their fees; there is nothing new about their service to our children to warrant any review. The state government or the school regulatory agency should come to our aid.” 

For Malam Aminu Ibrahim, a civil servant, private schools were becoming business ventures that the owners use to exploit parents.

Alhaji Ado Sale, a businessman, said that he was considering enrolling his children in public schools because of the arbitrary increase in fees in private schools.

Malama Hadiza Ali, a widow who has four children in private schools, said:  “Apart from school fees, I have so much on my neck, like feeding, rent and so on. I am thinking of enrolling them into a public school instead.”

In Lagos, a banker, Mr Lawrence Olu, lamented that school fees take the highest portion of parents’ annual income, it had reduced the standard of living for households.

“My son’s school has increased the fee by over 15 per cent. I have decided to withdraw my son from the school because I cannot cope.”

Another resident of Lagos, Uncle Sam said the economic situation of the country is making life difficult for him, despite being a salary earner.

“Sincerely, this is not going to be easy for parents because even the summer lessons fees were increased above 50 per cent compared to what we paid last time. We understand the situation of the economy but most of these schools are taking advantage of the situation to exploit parents,” he said.

A Vulcaniser in Ikeja, Mr Waheed Shamsudeen said he will withdraw his four kids from a private school they are attending because of increased fees.

“Though I promised my wife before she died that I was going to do all I can to give the kids a good education, at this point, I can no longer cope with high school fees.”

A parent in Port Harcourt, Onyeka Imeadi said, “We used to pay N30, 000 but the management of the school wrote to inform us that the school fees will be increased to N50,000 from the next academic session.”

Meanwhile, most of the schools were reportedly not considering increasing their teachers’ salaries despite the fees hike.