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By Young E. Freeborn, Warri
As the 2021/2022 academic session commence in Delta State a few weeks ago, parents and guardians of students and wards of unity and special schools (boarding schools) in the state have complained of a recent increase in fees of boarding schools across the state.
They complain that the hike, reportedly by the state ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, is “without a second thought to the present economic woes and challenges confronting so many Nigerians at the moment.”
Speaking to our correspondent during a visit to Girls Model Secondary School, Evwreni in Ughelli North Local Government Area of the state during the second week of resumption, one of the parents who refused to disclose his name said, he came to withdraw his daughter from the boarding system, considering the hike in boarding fees.
“Actually, I can’t afford the boarding system for my daughter again in this school. Before the end of the last academic session, we were paying N40,000.00 as boarding fees. This was completely excluding other internal fees like security fee, chemical to pump school field, fee to maintain solar lights and many other ones. Yet, upon all these fees, you would be made to buy provisions for your children here from time to time, or they would go hungry every day. So my brother, in a term we spend in this school more than some universities in the country. How can an average income earner like me afford it?”
Still on the issue, the angry parent said, “As if that is not enough for the Delta State government, there is another hike or increment in the boarding fees in this new academic session by the ministry of Basic and Secondary Education.
“The present boarding fees now is M60,000.00 in addition to those items I first counted for you. Tell me how some of the parents like me can afford close to N120,000.00 for the school fees of one child here?
“It’s very devastating and disgusting for the ministry of Basic and Secondary Education to do this to us, poor parents that are struggling before we eat. I think what the government is telling us is that, boarding schools in Delta State is only meant for the rich parents and not for the poor ones.
“We heard our governor and the commissioner for the Basic and Secondary Education very loud and clear on the issue of education. So this is the single reason why I have decided to change my daughter from boarding system to Day system. The Day system is also very expensive, considering the transportation and the security challenges on the highway,” he said.
Other parents who spoke to this reporter at Ughelli were also of the same view as the first speaker. However, they pleaded with the state government and the ministry of Basic and Secondary Education to consider their plight and to also think of the essential need of educating the children so that the government can possibly reduce the boarding fees to enable poor and average income parents send their children/wards to schools.
This was as they described education as a fundamental right of every Nigerian child and also as one of the potent and essential tools to fight criminality, youth restiveness and prostitution amongst young people in the society.
