With Joke Adeniyi-Jackson
I could deduce from the voice of the caller that she was disturbed. Her questions came in torrents; it all bothered on the forthcoming Common Entrance Examination into Junior Secondary Schools in Kwara State. My response was encapsulating as it was succinct;ย “Registration is free!”, going by declaration of the state governmentย that no fee would be charged for the entrance examination.
The agitated voice at the other end then launched into a tirade over what she described as extortion by her son’s school. The son attends one of the low-cost private primary schools in Olorunsogo area of Ilorin. According to her, the school management had asked parents of concerned pupils to pay N20,000. She lamented the inability of parents, who are mostly low income earners to meet up with the deadline for the registration as set by the school. She said parents were made to pay the examination fees in addition to school fees and other charges.
Findings later revealed that some private primary schools that are yet to be given the nod by the state government to conduct the examination,ย register their pupils with other schools given approval for the purpose, hence the exorbitant charges. Justifying the high charges,ย a school proprietress explained that she had to pay the ‘receiving’ school not only to register her pupils for the examination, but also for uniforms, which her pupils that are sitting for the examination in the other school would wear on the D day. It was also learnt that some schools charge well above the aforementioned sum of money, an outright extortion in the name of external examination. It is disheartening that parents who are already suffering under the burden of multiple fees (common feature of private schools) are being further extorted through registration for common entrance examination. Even after charging a lot for the examination, it is learnt that some private schools charge again for certificates. This only lend credence to the excesses ofย some schools proprietors.ย It is quite unfortunate that some proprietors go that length for infrastructural development of their low-cost private schools as the money charged for external examinations are ploughed into such projects. Going by this trend,ย private schools seem not to be under government’s control. The proprietors charge and increase fees arbitrarily, even when there is little or nothing to show for such outrageous fees and levies. Interestingly some even charge exorbitant fees to give impression of qualitative education as it is believed that parents place value on expensive schools. Sadly,ย private schools are fast becoming lucrative business with owners smiling to the bank while they milk parents dry as they devise ways of exploiting hapless parents.
The continuous extortion of parents by private schools in the state is indeed an ugly trend, which needs to be checked in all ramifications. The state Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development cannot turn a blind eye while greedy school proprietors embark on exploitation spree. It behooves the ministry or relevant authority to address this issue appropriately in the interest of the pupils/students and the education sector. The government should be seen to be in control by regulating activities of private schools. Since the private sector of the education facet accommodate a sizeable population of children,ย adequate attention should be paid to private education institutions, particularly the foundation level-primary schools. Undoubtedly,ย someย private schools have contributed to qualitative education in the state but more control of the schools by the authorities would lead to better results.
Also,ย parents can resist the current exploitation and extortion by private schools through the Parents Teachers Association (PTA), of affectedย schools. The association can decide and approve levies to be paid by pupils.
Nevertheless,ย despite the fact that education is free in the state,ย most parents still prefer private schools as it is believed that they are better managed and higher standard of education and better performance in external examinations. This has no doubt led to increased proliferation of private schools.ย Inadvertently, these schools take advantage of the lapses in public schools and charge exorbitant fees and levies.
It is on the backdrop of this that the state government should ensure qualitative education at all levels to make public schools attractive. Governments at both state and local government levels must be seen to invest in infrastructure and manpower development of public schools. Ifย public schools are well equipped and properly maintained, many parents will be encouraged to enroll their children there and save themselves from exploitative tendencies of greedy school proprietors.
