By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Protesting parents have won their argument as the Lagos State Ministry of Education has agreed to charge N35,000 as boarding fees at its high quality Model Colleges, down from N50,000 mooted in August and N75,000 floated in July.
A twist in the tale is allegation by parents that the ministry had originally sought N125,000 as fees with intent to provide officials more money to steal, made easy in a system where a principal is the only signatory to a school’s account.
The new fee is just N5,000 more than the parents campaigned to pay.
The Nation reports that the ministry and parents reached an agreement that pupils of the 16 Junior and Senior Model Colleges and upgraded secondary schools should pay N35,000 as boarding fees.
The agreement followed the setting up last week of a panel by the state House of Assembly Education Committee to proffer solution to agitation mounted by parents.
The committee, comprising three representatives each of the ministry and parents, agreed on N35,000 which would be presented to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for approval.
Education Ministry Public Affairs Officer Ganiu Lawal did not confirm or deny the report. “The ministry will react at the appropriate time,” he told The Nation.
Pupils of the model colleges will resume in batches from this weekend.
Before the initial N75,000 hike was announced in July, parents had paid N25,000 as boarding fees for their children, which Education Commissioner Folasade Adefisayo said had been the charge for 18 years.
Parents allege financial fraud at Lagos Model Colleges
One parent who spoke to SaharaReporters on the condition of anonymity during the agitation last month said the actual fee reviewed was N125,000 but with a N75,000 subsidy by the government.
He queried the sudden increase and subsidy when the government never gave a subsidy on the N25,000 parents were paying, and alleged that the hike was simply a means of extorting money them for government officials to steal.
His words: “No parent of Lagos Model College will agree to this N50,000 feeding fee for boarding students.
“Before now, we paid N25,000 for feeding and welfare; now the question is, has Lagos State government ever subsidised the N25,000 feeding fee before? No. Why now is the government interested in subsidising and increase the feeding fee?
“The fee currently paid is N25,000; then the government came with a proposal to help us subsidise it after increasing it to N125,000 per child. At first, they claimed to subsidise N50,000 per child, asking parents to pay N75,000.
“Later, the state Commissioner and the Permanent Secretary of Education said it has been reduced to N50,000 per child. This means that Lagos State government will subsidise N75,000 per child while parents will pay N50,000.
“This is to show that all officials of the state government in relation to the increase have a fraudulent motive behind the increase which is not justifiable.
“The present N25,000 paid by each student had long been mismanaged, full of fraudulent and unaccounted expenses. Honestly, there is a need for an audit of the money because N25,000 per student at 1,000 students will give you N25 million.
“The principals in each school are the only administrators and signatory to the account and they spend this money at their will.
“Meanwhile, each student, on resumption per term takes some items called hostel requirements to school.”
“We know that the reason they have called for this increase is due to the fact that they cannot get their usual cut in the feeding fee and they want to maintain the cut.
“The Commissioner for Education owns a private school so also [the] others calling for the increase. Their children are enrolled in expensive schools abroad with our money. They don’t have human feelings and sympathy.
“We, the parents, have agreed that even if there is an increase, it should be pegged at N30,000 which is all-inclusive of hostel requirements and auxiliaries per student.
“We are also asking for the inclusion of parents who are professionals in the kitchen management of the school.
“The Coalition of Parents also demands the inclusion of a parent body in the administration of the fees paid by students. This will enable proper needs and accountability.
“The parents through the Coalition of Parents Forum executives also call for the thorough audit of the account of all Model Colleges in Lagos State.
Another parent said: “We have rejected the feeding fee of N50,000 presented to us but have agreed to an upward review pegged at N30,000.”