School fees controversy: Expect more radical reforms — Kano gov’t to private schools

Amidst controversy trailing the directive for a discount on school fees by 25 percent, Kano state government has asked private school operators to expect more radical reforms in the sector. The state Commissioner for Education, Malam Muhammad Sanusi Kiru stated this while responding to counter claims by a faction of Association of Private School owners […]

Amidst controversy trailing the directive for a discount on school fees by 25 percent, Kano state government has asked private school operators to expect more radical reforms in the sector.

The state Commissioner for Education, Malam Muhammad Sanusi Kiru stated this while responding to counter claims by a faction of Association of Private School owners who disowned an earlier statement, accepting the 25 percent discount on the school fees for third term in the 2019/2020 academic year.

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Members of the Association of Private Schools Owners of Nigeria (APSON), Kano state chapter had during a solidarity visit to the Commissioner over the weekend declared their resolution to comply with the directive by discounting 25 percent from the school fees.

Speaking during the visit, the National Deputy President of the APSON, Hajiya Maryam Magaji said that their association has decided to comply with the government with a view to cushioning the effects of the economic hardship occasioned by COVID-19 pandemic on parents.

She explained that the directive was not intended by Government to hurt anybody, rather, it was done in the best interest of the educational development of the state.

However, in a statement issued on Monday which was jointly signed by Engr Basheer Adamu Aliyu, Chairman, Kano Chapter, Association of Model Islamic Schools (AMIS), Alh Muhammad Mallam Adamu, Chairman, Kano Chapter, National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), and Mrs Fatima CAN Bello, Chairperson Independent School Proprietors Association Kano (ISPAK), the factional group disowned the earlier statement accepting the 25 percent discount.

The group said it has agreed to conduct a general congress within the next 48 hours, after which it would announce its stance on the directive.

“Once again, for the avoidance of doubt, (a) our members have not received any financial assistance from the State or Federal Government, (b) we have not accepted the 25% discount and our position will be communicated to the authorities by Thursday November 5, 2020,” the statement stressed.

Responding to this, Kiru said since majority of private school owners had agreed to reduce the fees as requested by the government, the ministry would go ahead to enforce compliance, saying any school found wanting would be sanctioned.

According to him, “As long as I remain the commissioner of education we are going to introduce so many radical reforms in the education sector.

“Some schools are even collecting money for uniforms and they are making it compulsory for parents to buy uniform from schools, some schools are also making it compulsory for parents to buy text books and majority of these text books have not passed through the test of KERD and Kano Education Resource Department is the only recognize department that will review and approve any textbook.

“So no problem, anybody who feels he is going to fight the government is free to do that, but we are going to stop them from collecting money for uniform, we are going to stop them from compelling parents to buy textbooks from the schools, there are so many reforms we are going to introduce so as to reduce the kind of exploitation in these private schools,” the commissioner added.