Resumption: Worries Over Hike In Transportation, School Fees

• Parents Consider Changing Schools To Reduce Expenses

• Fees Hike Not Deliberate, Due To Economic Hardship – Administrator

As primary and secondary schools in Osun State resume for the 1st term of the 2024/2025 academic session on Tuesday, September 17, stakeholders in the education sector have expressed worry over the hike in transportation, school fees and other items.

Findings by OSUN DEFENDER also revealed that most parents and guardians are considering a change in their children’s schools due to the economic situation of the country.

Those who spoke to the medium during the week lamented the high cost of tuition, instructional materials, school uniforms, buses and other essential items needed for a smooth academic calendar.

They also decried the skyrocketing prices of food items, as well as ever-rising fuel prices, saying the situation will affect access and delivery to quality education.

Investigations by OSUN DEFENDER further revealed that while private schools have released the new price regime to parents, public schools in the state face a dearth of lack of teachers and infrastructure as the new session begins.

It was learnt that private nursery and primary school wards who had paid between N17,000 to N30,000 as their school fees have jerked it up to a range of N40,000 to N60,000, while their older colleagues in secondary who hitherto paid N45,000 to N60,000 last session will pay up to N90,000 in the new session.

While charges vary depending on the quality of infrastructure and teaching in privately owned schools, OSUN DEFENDER gathered that students of public schools in Osun may not have adequate teachers to begin the 2024/2025 academic session with.

The medium in its last edition had reported that interview process for the 5,000 teachers approved to be recruited by the state executive council held weeks after the would-be teaching staff completed their screening test and were awaiting cut-off marks.

A public primary school teacher in Ede who prayed not be named told OSUN DEFENDER that they had thought the new teachers would join for the new academic session as promised by the state government.

She said the unavailability of the new teachers due to resumption would further compound the already jam-packed timetable and roaster.

“In my school, we do not have enough hands. We are only 5 that take all 6 classes in the school. We should at least be 12. Our headmistress takes about four classes everyday. She teaches and does all the administrative work.

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“The government should please be fast about having the new teachers on board. Without having them on board, we won’t be able to sufficiently cater for the pupils. The students are lagging behind a lot. Governor Ademola Adeleke should help us tell those in-charge to act fast.”

Apart from the dearth of teaching staff, most of the public schools visited by OSUN DEFENDER especially in rural communities are also yearning for renovation, reconstruction and erection of new structures, as well as equipping of their facilities such as laboratories, libraries, and so on.

Parents Consider Changing Schools To Reduce Expenses

Some parents who spoke to the medium yesterday said they are considering changing their children’s school due to the high cost of transportation and new school fees regime.

In separate interviews, they said the unending rise in pump price of petrol has reduced their purchasing power, hence the need to find a way out of the situation.

“I am a salary earner. The situation of the country is making me to have a rethink on my children’s school. Three of them will pay more than N200,000 in their current school, while if I change it to the one nearest to the house, they will pay just N120,000,” a microfinance bank staff, Mr. Seun Awoleye said.

“It is harsh on them because they will miss their friends and the quality of learning they are used to but there is nothing I can do. If I combine my salary with that of my wife, we make just N250,000 monthly. We have other bills to pay. We have spoken to them to understand. When the situation improves, they will return to their school of choice,” he continued.

Another parent, Mrs Abimbola Balogun expressed worry over the situation, saying she would have to take her kids to public school.

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Her words, “I used to manage a filling station. They have laid us off because another person has taken over the place. I now sell roasted corn so my children can feed. My husband is a retiree and his income cannot take care of the school fees of our children.

“They are resuming in a government school close to the house. I will be augmenting their learning because I am a trained teacher. I applied for the Osun State Teaching job but I don’t know my fate yet. This is the temporary solution we have to take. We pray for Nigeria to get better,” Balogun noted.

Fees Hike Not Deliberate, Due To Economic Hardship – School Administrator

A school administrator, Mrs Adeola Olaore told OSUN DEFENDER that the hike in charges by private schools reflect the economic situation of the country.

Olaore posited that school owners resorted to hiking the fees due to the expensive cost of materials needed to delivery of quality education to the students.

She said, “The recent hike in prices of goods and commodities has affected all areas, and Schools are not exempted. Transportation is on the rise because of the hike in fuel prices. Teachers and other staff members are expecting salary increase so as to navigate the new academic session with ease. Hence, there will be increase in tuition fees.

“The school chain is in such a way that any decision affects the top tier and the customers, and the customers are the parents. So, before a school can improve the welfare of its staff, there must be increase in tuition.

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“Take for instance, books. The prices of books given at the end of last term are no longer valid. Suppliers have increased the book fees. The parents had to be contacted and informed of the new prices as the school cannot bear the huge loss. We can only pray for normalcy in our country.”