Edo college, parents clash over fee hike

Parents of students of the Federal Government Girls College, Benin City, Edo State, recently staged a peaceful protest over school fees hike. The parents had accused the school management of charging exorbitant and needless fees. The protest occurred outside the school premises on resumption day, September 18 when students who paid incomplete fees were prevented […]

Parents of students of the Federal Government Girls College, Benin City, Edo State, recently staged a peaceful protest over school fees hike.
The parents had accused the school management of charging exorbitant and needless fees. The protest occurred outside the school premises on resumption day, September 18 when students who paid incomplete fees were prevented from entering the school.
 The protest led to intense negotiation between the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) and the management before the students were allowed into the school to commence activities for the first term.  
The issues in contention between the parents and the school management bordered on security fee, insurance fee, school media fee, PTA levy and textbook fees. While the management insisted that the parents must pay the entire fees before allowing their kids into the hostel, the parents on their part insisted on paying the government-approved fees without those they described as unnecessary fees.
The federal government had recently dissolved the PTA and suspended its activities over irregularities and what it termed as ‘insubordination’.
The government had cancelled all development fees in the schools and directed PTA levies should not exceed N5,000.  
One of the parents who spoke to our reporter, Mr. Abel Jay, said the school management was exploiting the parents through fictitious fees.
He said, “For instance, they are asking us to a pay minimum of N15, 000 for text books and we are asking them to give us the list of the books so that we know what we are paying for but they refused, insisting that we must pay the money.
“I have paid for sandals over two years now but till date I am yet to get it and when we pay for 15 books, they will give the children nine out of the 15 while the rest would be pending.
“I transferred my children from Port Harcourt and they are now saying until I pay the media, website and insurance fees, my children will not be allowed in and the stipulated fee for my kids is N32, 000 which I have paid.”
It was also gathered that the school media was introduced three years ago and over N90 million has been realized by the school management from it.
Another parent, Gabriel Irabor, told our reporter that parents have been facing difficulties in fees payment in the last three years in the school.
He said the former PTA executive connived with the former principal of the school to allegedly extort parents, especially in the payment of PTA levy.
“Secondly, they are asking us to pay N5,000 for media but we don’t understand what the media is all about. Again, they are asking us to pay N5,000 for insurance which the federal government said is optional.
“Last year, the new intake paid N46, 000 PTA levy which is not supposed to be and as a result of that, the parents sacked the executives and appointed new ones who now said the PTA fees should be reversed to the normal N6, 000 and because of that the former principal refused to cooperate with them until she was transferred out of the school. And now, the new principal wants to continue in that manner. But we would resist it.
“When the issue came up, our chairman went to Abuja with other PTA executive members, where they resolved to remove some fees that are not necessary, like insurance amongst others,” Irabor said.
On his part, Godfrey Irabor, (different from the Irabor above) said when the students were coming home on holiday at the end of last term, the school sent a letter to parents stating the amount to pay, but before then, the PTA which met in Abuja had already resolved that parents should pay a certain amount after deducting some charges which were considered unnecessary.
He said, “Some paid N22, 000 instead of N50, 500, while the new intake paid N46, 000 instead of N80, 000. But the principal is insisting that we must pay the full amount, including school media, security, insurance and others.
Another parent, Mrs. Felicia Osas, said she was not comfortable with the N5, 000 school media fee and N5, 000 for insurance.
“I have paid N22,000 which is what the government asked my kid to pay, but they are saying we should pay N5,000 for school media and other fees which they have not been able to explain to us. “They said we should pay insurance and we don’t even know the insurance company that is collecting the money because we have not signed any memorandum of understanding with any company to insure our children. The funny aspect is that when our children are sick, we are the ones responsible for their treatment. Last term, when my daughter was sick, they called me to come and take her to the hospital which I did. So, what is the insurance all about,” she said.
Chairman of the defunct PTA, Enobakhare Foster-Edosa, who spoke with our reporter after an intense dialogue with the school management, said, “We have resolved to continue to dialogue with the school management to resolve some outstanding and contentious issues within one week.”
He said the issues in contention are security, school media, insurance and books.
“On issue of security, we are paying the salary of 17 out of the 19 security men guarding the school, but now they put it on the students bill, hence it became an issue, and we have told them that if they are going to take over the security, they should guarantee us of our children’s safety by continuity in paying the security men. Our fear is that the government or school management may not be able to pay the number of the required security men needed to guarantee the security of the children,” he said, adding that the school is yet to agree on whether to continue to pay the security through PTA or hand it over to the school management.
He said the PTA had agreed to summon the ‘operator’ to come and explain to the parents what they have done with the money collected from parents in the name of school media in the last three years.
“On the issue of school media, we have also agreed that it is not mandatory. When we took over, we asked the operator to come and explain to us what the school media is all about but he refused, hence we cancelled it last term. In the last three years, over N90 million has been collected in the name of school media and no one has briefed the parents on how the money was used or what it was meant for,” he said.
Foster-Edosa said for peace to reign, the PTA agreed to pay the money from its account on behalf of parents and that if the operator comes around and the PTA is not satisfied with the explanation, then they will have to cancel it while the school authority would refund the money. “On the issue of insurance, we have resolved not to pay it because the policy of insurance is that you can’t insure the children without our consent and they have never told us the kind of insurance they are giving our children. We see it as fraud because no form was filled during the period and insurance certificates were not given,” he said.
He however said parent will investigate the matter, saying that if they discover any fraudulent or shady dealings, they will take legal action against the school to refund the money.
Effort to speak to the principal of the school who was only identified as Mrs. Maduake proved abortive as she declined comment, saying as a civil servant, she has to seek clearance to talk to the media.