Private school proprietors groan under govt’s ‘unfriendly’ policies

PROPRIETORS of private schools under the auspices of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) have called on the Federal Government to come up with friendly policies that will encourage more private sector participation in the delivery of quality education to Nigerian children.

The chairman of NAPPS, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chapter, Mrs Samira Jibril, who expressed the concerns of the private schools’ proprietors in FCT, lamented that the operational environment is currently hostile for more people to venture into.

According to her, apart from multiple taxation that private schools have been subjected to by both the federal and FCT administrations, accessible loans to boost provision of infrastructure are non-existent.

She appealed to the government to set up systems that would reduce their vulnerability as Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs).

Jibril expressed proprietors’ concern that government has never considered the complementary role played by the private sector in provision quality education to the Nigerian children.

“We do not only complement government’s effort in the educational sector, but we function to upgrade educational standards, relieve the burden of unemployment and impact positively on the economy, she said.

Some of the proprietors who spoke at the event lamented their ordeal in the hands of illegal tax collectors, saying that they could hardly cope from the weight of multiple taxation imposed on them by the FCT Administration, including area councils in Abuja.

They complained that they were being made to pay all manner of levies under questionable names, ranging from tenement rates, ground rent, environmental charges, Educational Tax Fund (ETF), Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), to local government levies on school buses, besides other levies collected for inspection and accreditation purposes hitherto supervised by the Department of Quality Assurance (D.Q.A), a regulatory agency under the Education Secretariat of FCT.

The recent introduction, according to them, is the ‘operational permit’, which they described as illegal.

Jibril said some schools have been locked up by Area Council officials, causing embarrassment to students, parents and members of staff, noting that a set of three persons who claimed to represent the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) were apprehended and handed over to the police recently.

She called for harmonisation of taxes payable by the schools, instead of the confused situation where different agencies impose taxes on a particular item.

Jibril said some schools have been locked up by Area Council officials, causing embarrassment to the students, parents and members of staff, noting that a set of three persons representing FIRS were apprehended and handed over to the police recently.

NAPPS said that letters registering their displeasure over these obnoxious taxes, which had been dispatched to the ministers of Education and the FCT, including the chairman, Senate Committee on Education, Permanent Secretary, FCT, the acting Secretary for Education, FCT, the Director, Department for Quality Assurance as well as area chairmen representing the six area councils in FCT, had all received no attention.

“We want to bring to the attention of relevant stakeholders that we will no longer condone multiple, irregular and illegal taxation.

“The National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) FCT chapter wishes to bring to the urgent attention of the general public and the Federal Government of Nigeria the emerging negative effect of multiple and confused taxation, and the need for a decisive and urgent action on reviewing the fiscal policies as relating to the educational sector, a long awaited intervention from government and policy makers, and more importantly now as the nation is experiencing a recession.

“Sadly like every other sector, we hardly get value for these levies and taxes; rather, we have been continually overburdened by the lack of commitment to infrastructural support. Most of us construct roads, install electricity, sink boreholes to the benefit of the immediate community where we are located.”

“Recently, the AMAC officials have been mandated to come up with some form of revenue drive targeted at private schools which is tagged ‘operational permit’ and ‘environmental fees’. These charges are already covered by the FCT in form of accreditation fees and Abuja Environmental Sanitation Board Charges that are regularly paid by all operators in line with the extant laws.

“The permit to operate private schools is not in the list under Schedule 4 of the Constitution, and we are aware that any law not passed by the National Assembly cannot apply in the FCT.

“This burden has been further multiplied by the high cost of funds, as most of us seek loans support from commercial and micro-finance banks at expensive interest rate. Despite this, we are saddled with multiple and heavy taxes that are frustrating and compete with genuine needs of our businesses.