For some inexplicable reasons, most parents run low on finance at this period; but if there is anything that is most predictable, it is that children must return to school at this time after their long holidays.
Strangely too, proprietors of schools choose this period to increase fees.
So, for parents who over the holidays had been struggling to cope with the crushing effect of the economic recession, school resumption in September hardly brings excitement with it.
To make matters worse, some schools insist their fees must be paid at once, and through the bank. They give a grace period of two weeks after resumption, after which they begin to send ‘defaulting’ children home.
The mere thought of paying these increased fees and buying the accompanying educational materials is often enough to raise some parents’ blood pressure at this time.
So, how do parents cope at this time?
Mrs Taiwo Oladunjoye is a civil servant in the employ of the Osun State government. She shared her experience with the Saturday Tribune.
“I have two children in higher institution. One of them is an undergraduate at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, while the other one is doing her Masters’ degree programme in English Language at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife.
“The ongoing strike at LAUTECH has not made it possible for students to resume; but the one at OAU has already resumed. What we do to cope with payment of their tuition fees is to prioritise our needs and expenditure, taking cognisance of available resources.
“We always make sure that we take care of the tuition fees first before any other thing. For my child doing his Masters at OAU, we have paid about N100,000 out of N160,000 for the session.”
Another parent, Mr Segun Ademiluyi, whose son attends one of the private secondary schools in Osogbo, said: “I am still owing the balance of the last term. I have been to my son’s school to plead so that they can give me sometime to pay the balance and also struggle to pay the fees for this new session.”
Also sharing his experience with Saturday Tribune, another parent, Mrs Eunice Ogunjobi, said “I am planning to obtain a soft loan from my cooperative society to pay the school fees of my daughter, because my husband is out of job.”
In Plateau State, the situation is not different from any other states in the country. Saturday Tribune investigations revealed that though many schools did not increase their fees, quite a lot of parents still keep their wards at home to avoid embarrassment of non-payment of school fees, as most of such schools had served notice that their fees be paid even before resumption.
A cross section of boarding schools visited by Saturday Tribune showed that the number of returning students has reduced drastically.
Esther Gyang, a teacher in one of the prominent secondary schools in Jos, the state capital, said most parents withdrew their children from the boarding house to become day students, to cut cost.
She further stated that parents of those offered admission into Junior and Senior Secondary Schools as freshers later turned round to say they preferred their children to be day students.
“In my school here, boarding students pay N175,000 per term, while day students pay N82,000. I see it as adjustment to the economic reality on ground. Salaries are not increasing, but the cost of living keeps going up everyday. Though it will affect the students, I still thing it’s better to adjust.”
A school proprietress, Dr. Blessing Mathew, said the management of her school refused to increase the fees after considering the economic hardship in the country, but that fees just have to be paid to keep the system running.
A parent, Malami Shittu, blamed the state government for not giving education at primary and secondary levels the deserved attention.
“If the state government here in Plateau accords education a priority by equipping schools with necessary instructional materials and motivate the teachers, parents will be relieved of the burden of astronomical fees.
“But our government is yet to thrive priorities right. Those in government are the ones encouraging private schools to strive. If the government had put all the necessary things in place, nobody would patronise private schools,” he said.
From all indications, many parents are losing sleep trying to figure out how to raise money to pay fees for the school they chose to send their children. The general impression is that anyone who wants to give the best education to his ward will not patronise public schools, considering the parlous state.
A parent, Timothy Batholomew, said, “This is a very critical period. Salaries are not regular, but some school authorities conspicuously display it at the entrance of their schools that ‘if you have not paid, don’t bring your children to school’. That is why many parents are still keeping their wards at home.”
Most parents interacted with in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, admitted that their children’s schools did not increase their fees on their resumption on Monday, September 18. However, they lamented that the cost of books had done that which they said they had feared as the holidays drew to an end.
It was a mixed bag of feelings, however, for the parents who have children in varying levels of institutions in and outside the state.
For instance, a parent, Mr. Joel Ariwodola, said he had hoped that the strike embarked upon by university lecturers would last “a bit longer.”
Ariwodola said, “I had secretly hoped that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)’s strike would last a little longer so that my wife and I could complete the payment of the fees of the younger ones.
“We knew that as soon as the strike was suspended, the university would promptly announce the examinations; and this means that she must resume immediately at school.”
But another parent, Mr. Wumi Adeyanju, said he would not have been bothered if the ASUU strike had taken place after the universities’ examinations.
“I had prayed that the government and other stakeholders managed the situation till they finished with their examinations. That would have given me a breather, because I would concentrate on my children in the secondary and primary schools.”
Adeyanju said with the resumption “all crashing on us at the same time, it is quite a heavy burden, and I’m still not sure of where to get the money for fees and other things because there’s no salary.”
A trader, Mrs Oluwaseun Ajayi, whose daughter is still in a kindergarten class, said, “they did not increase school fees, but the cost of books has risen.”
She said she was pleased when she learnt that the school hadn’t increased fees, but became downcast when she learnt she had to cough up more money to be able to buy her daughter’s books.
Some parents however also lamented that some of the schools increased their fees, albeit marginally. A popular school in one of the residential areas at Afao Road in Ado-Ekiti was said to have added N3,000 to their regular fees.
“I didn’t even know about it; it was my wife that brought my attention to it when she asked for more money,” a parent who chose not to be named stated.
He said “even the schools themselves have adjusted to the current situation in the state. Our salaries are not regular and the schools know this. So, I’m sure they know those who pay regularly but have been handicapped by the economic situation.”
Mrs. Rose Abah a mother of two in Ibadan, Oyo State, said it was no news that at the beginning of every academic session, some proprietors see it as normal to increase tuition fees.
According to her, parents had complained repeatedly at virtually all meetings of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) held in her children’s school but the proprietor had failed to budge.
“Inasmuch as many proprietors would not want children to be withdrawn from their schools, they still do not consider maintaining a specific amount of school fees for each session.
“They are always of the notion that every session should make a great difference in the life of every child, and that this cannot be done without fund; so they increase tuition fees,” she said.
However, she clarified that for this session, in her children’s school, (the increment) came with a prior notice and was somehow still within affordable range.
Another parent, Mrs. Christiana Onijagbe, who is also a teacher, said that just as the price of things are being inflated, fees would also be affected.
According to her, in her child’s school, the increment came with a difference of N2000, while in the school where she teaches, it came with a difference of N1000, which she described as affordable.
Another parent in Ibadan, Mr Fola Adeniran, said, he would have to look for where to borrow money to pay the fees, as her daughter’s school would most likely from Monday October 2 begin to send defaulting children home.
“The good thing about my daughter’s school is that the proprietor does not insist that the whole fees must be paid at once. For this term, my daughter is paying N49,000, excluding books and stationery which amount to close to that amount also.
“If I’m able to get half of that, my child will be allowed to remain in school, at least for another few weeks before we pay up the balance,” he said.
He said he had another child in another school; but he said the proprietress of that school would not agree to part-payment of the fees; and he had not figured out just yet how to raise the fee, he himself still being owed three months salary in his place of work.
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