School fees, cost of materials as albatross

• Parents: Govt should intervene
• Booksellers: There’s low patronage due to low income

HIGH COST

As schools reopen for new academic session, parents are agonising over high cost of sending their children and wards to school, owing to the high school fees and other school materials. TUNRAYO ADERIBIGBE and TOSIN EWEJOBI report

These are perhaps hard times for most parents, who are groaning under the difficulties of sending their children and wards to school for the new academic session. This is no thanks to the burden of educating the children due to high school fees, charged by owners of private schools, high cost of textbooks and other school materials that has almost priced education out of the reach of many parents. As schools across the country reopened for the 2018/2019 school year, last week, many parents are still agonising over what they described as the high cost of education in the country, especially at the primary and secondary school levels, which supposed to be free. Given the high cost of education and what parents or guardians have to go through in meeting the school needs of their children, they, however, chided the government for its failure to meet its responsibilities and obligation in providing education for the citizenry.

“It is a pity that what parents are facing in this country today is like the government does not want us to send our children to school again. How do we explain what parents have to pay for the children’s education, especially in private schools? There are the high school fees, high cost of textbooks and other school materials, such as sandals, uniforms, school bags, food flask and writing materials, among other needs. Many parents are forced to enroll their children in private schools, when government schools are not only inadequate, but also lack necessary facilities, coupled with teachers’ strikes,” Mrs. Mariam Oluwakemi lamented.

While musing over her situation, Mrs. Oluwakemi, who has two children in a private school in Ogun State, bemoaned the financial difficulties the family had to go through before the children could go back to school for the new session. “If not for the magnanimity of the proprietors of the school, who allow parents to pay the school fees twice, I am afraid my children and many others would have remained at home since most us could not have paid the fees at once like in several other private schools which made it mandatory for parents to pay their children’s school fees in full before returning the students to school,” she said. Still expressing worry, she noted that many parents resorted to enroll their children and wards in private schools, especially primary and secondary schools, because public or government schools are shadows of themselves and nothing to write home about, in terms of shortage or outright lack of facilities, unfriendly teaching-learning environment, poor teachers’ attitude to work and incessant strikes.

Being a period of admission of new students into Nursery I, Primary One and Junior Secondary School (JSS I),and promotion of existing students to the next class, many parents that have the children in Junior Secondary School (JSS 3), as well as Senior Secondary School (SS 3), which otherwise are referred to as terminal classes, have one tale or the other to tell. In fact, students in JSS 3 and SS 3 are mandated by the management to pay the entire school fees for the session (first, second and third term) at once on resumption for the school year, apart from other demands, such as uniforms, school bags, scandals, food packs and textbooks the parents have to contend with. Though, investigations by New Telegraph, however, revealed that not many schools increased their school fees this term, a development some parents and school owners attributed to the harsh economic situation in the country.

“Since the main motive of establishing these schools is not for profit making, but to offer qualitative education, hike in school fees at the beginning of every school year should not be a phenomenon and the best for the system, given the economic hardship in the country,” a school proprietor in Lagos, who did not want his name in print, said.

He added: “We should be considerate; at least we are all parents. Though, we should all also realise what it takes to maintain the schools, provide utilities and other essential facilities to keep the children in a conducive learning environment, as well as payment of teachers’ salary, we still consider what parents are going through to keep their children in school, especially some of them who have more than two or three children in school, and couple with the poor income of most parents, that are not even being paid regularly.” Some parents, who spoke with New Telegraph, lamented the stress in paying their children’s school fees as a result of the poor economic situation, even as some of them expressed their inability to pay school fees and at the same time buy necessary textbooks for them.

In fact, parents are kicking against the practice in both public and private secondary schools, in which parents have to pay the entire school fees for year (first, second and third term) for students in terminal classes of JSS 3 and SS 3 once on the resumption of the new school year. Although, schools such as Mayflower Private School, Ikenne in Ogun State,where a JSS III student is expected to pay the entire N432,200 school fees for the year split the payment into two installments to be paid between this month and January next year. However, to Mr. Asese Gbenga, a welder and father of four, the cost of educating the children today is somehow too high, saying he had to withdraw two of his children from a private school in Ijaiye-Ojokoro area of Lagos, and enrolled them in public school since he could no longer afford the school fees and other school materials with his meagre resources.

“Originally, the poor state and coupled with inadequate government schools forced many of us to put our children in private schools, which are not even up to the standard,” he added, saying the prevailing economic situation in the country and the high cost of school fees have further compounded our difficulties.

Meanwhile, in a market survey conducted by New Telegraph on the cost of textbooks and other school materials, it, however, indicated that a parent who has a child in either primary or secondary school in the country today, would spend between N20,000 and N30,000 on textbooks in some instances, apart from other school materials, which cost have been on the rise recently. Some bookshop operators and market sellers, who said they experienced low patronage, attributed this to high import tariff, exchange rate, poor percapital income of parents, and other market forces.

Specifically, a seller of school bags (backpack) at Bariga Market in Lagos, Mrs. Chioma Nwali lamented the low patronage, saying the increase in the cost of the items is high this year, when compared to last year’s price. According to her, a school bag for primary school children which sold for N2,500 last year, has presently increased to N3,000. Also, a bookshop owner at the same market, who identified himself simply as Mr. Kingsley, said there was no sharp increase in the cost of textbooks this year, when compared with last year rates, but hinted that the New Macmillan English Language and Mathematics for Primary Schools, was still at the same old rate of N700 each. Mr. Sam, another trader in the market, who deals in school sandals also said there was no increase on the cost as a pair of sandals which is sold between N1,200 to N3,000, depending on the maker.

Unlike the duo, other traders who sell rubber sandals complained of low sale and patronage at this period of resumption, which is usually the peak of their sales. Also, Mrs. Nwafor, a trader at one of the major markets in Lagos, who sells school materials such as eraser, pack of pencils, crayon, biro, said there was increase in the price of the materials, recalling that eraser which cost N100 per pack last year, now sells for N150 and likewise pencil which sold for N120 per pack has increased to N150. A seller of food packs and water bottles for school children at a Lagos market, Mrs. Aderibigbe also bemoaned over the increase in the cost of the materials, saying the items which cost N600 last year has jumped to N800, which she traced the economic situation of the country. It is the same story of woe at the popular Sango Market in Ogun State, where traders complained of low sales due to low patronage, caused by the people’s low purchasing power.






At the market, the prices of items such as children school bags, uniform, sandals and textbooks, among others have gone up compared with last year, resulting to low patronage by parents. For example, a school bag that cost N3000, has now increased to N3,500; school uniform which sold for N2,500, but sells for N3,000, even as the prices of other school materials, including food pack, pairs of sock, water bottles, textbooks and sandals have increased. Further market survey by New Telegraph, however, revealed that food pack which cost N500 last year now sells for N350; water bottle N600 last year and N800 this year; New Mathematic for Primary School (N700 last year, now N800); New English for Primary School (N700 last year, now N800); a pair of sandals, which cost N1,500last year, now sells for N2,000. Similarly, at Berger Market, some of the traders of school materials described the market situation generally this year as ‘dull,’ saying though there was no sharp increase in the cost of school items, there was low patronage and low profit margin due to poor economic condition of the nation. The sellers, who recalled that last year they were making a minimum of N40,000 monthly as profit on sales during resumption of school, said they could only make N45,000, which according to them, is a little rise in the profit margin.