Parents have urged President Bola Tinubu to put a stop to the wave of tuition fee increases and other changes made by government-owned schools under the auspices of the National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria, or NAPTAN.
The parents claimed that these price rises in nearly every sector, including fuel, power, and now school fees, were suffocating them.
They contend that the increases are too numerous and are pelting the populace like a downpour.
Adeolu Ogunbanjo, the Deputy National President of NAPTAN, urged the President to urgently halt the tuition price increase in public schools in an interview with Vanguard yesterday.
“It is unfortunate. We support the President regarding the removal of the oil subsidy, but it does not mean everything should just be hiked at the same time.
”You still want to remove subsidy on electricity, and also hike tuition fees at the same time. That will be too killing on parents and their children.
“The President should by tomorrow, mandate schools to revert to their old fees. They should not snuff the life out of parents and their children.
”He should temper justice with mercy. The moment the government increases fees payable in its schools, others will follow – the state governments and private school owners. He should just stop it,” he stated.
Recall that federal institutions and the Unity Colleges of the federal government recently increased their fees from N45,000 to N100,000.
For instance, UNILAG in Lagos raised tuition over the weekend from N19,000 to N190,250.
Parents worry that some parents may find it challenging to manage fees and book purchases by the time the new school year for primary and secondary schools starts in September of this year.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) had expressed concern that the government's introduction of the Student Loan Scheme would increase tuition costs.
Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke and Dr Anderson Ezeibe, the presidents of both unions, had stated that the government would simply be directing any poor student who is unable to pay fees to contact the Student Loan Board, but they questioned how many of these students the board would be able to assist.
