School Resumption: Parents Groan As Proprietors Increase Fees, Textbooks, Uniforms

By Shola Adewumi 

School Resumption: Parents Groan As Proprietors Increase Fees, Textbooks, Uniforms

As primary and secondary schools across the nation resume for the 2022/2023 academic session, parents are lamenting the decision of many school owners to hike the fees payable by each pupil.

In the face of the current economic hardship, THIRDEYE reports that there is an increased cost of textbooks, uniforms, sports wear and others.

In most schools, parents complain that they are not allowed to get the books or uniforms elsewhere, rather they are mandated to buy same from the schools immediately the pupils resume.

Parents and guardians, who spoke with our correspondent, said they were contemplating changing their children’s schools because of their inability to raise the school fees charged.

There are some who maintained they may take “the worst decision” by taking their wards to government-owned schools, saying they (the parents) also attended public schools.

“I am just coming from my grandson’s school. He is in Primary 2. They told me that the books he would buy is N28,000 and we are to buy from the school at once. That’s too much. The school fee has also been increased from N15,000 to N25,000. It seems these proprietors are not considering the nation’s economic situation at all

“I don’t know if he will resume here tomorow. I may consider taking him to an affordable one or worst still, to a good public school,” Mrs Omisakin Rachael, told our correspondent in Ile-Ife.

Mr Moshood, a media practitioner said parents were the ones to decide what is affordable for them, saying he would never be forced by any school to buy textbooks from it.

According to him, parents should be given the list of books and should be allowed to buy the books anywhere they want.

Seyi posited that “selling textbooks is not anything wrong, but it must not be done to extort the poor parents.”

The father of three advised parents to enroll their kids in schools they can afford instead of trying to impress the society.

“Parents need to to realization these days, many of us also like to ‘belong’. It is better for me to take my wards to a school where I will pay their fees without stress, financially.

“I can’t take my wards to schools where we’ll pay through our noses. 

Those proprietors are not showing mercy at all. I will first of all ask questions before enrolling my children in any school. My son got admission into a popular public secondary school in Osogbo. I was given the list of books and they invited the publishers to bring their books. I went to Bookshop to price the books. At the end of the day, I bought those that are cheaper and those I can’t get at Bookshop from them. I headed to Bookshop to buy the rest. You won’t believe the price difference is in thousands of Naira.

“Parents need to cut their coats according to their clothes and proprietors should consider the parents before taking decisions that have to do with money,” Moshood stated in a chat with our correspondent.

In his words, Demola Adebayo recalled when parents would be given the list of books to buy, saying schools nowadays were after making money at the expense of poor parents.

“Unlike in the ancient days when parents were given a list of books and samples of the school uniforms to purchase and sew them wherever you like, things have changed now.

“I still recall when I first entered Tinumola Nursery and School, Osogbo in the 90s. I was taken to one  Bookshop to buy textbooks and taken to Orisunmibare Market to buy a sample of the uniform. But now, every school is after making money, all because the system isn’t helping them,” Demola posited.

Narrating , a mother of one, who identified herself as Ajoke explained how her daughter’s school sent her the amount to pay for the first term, tagging it as the ‘New Bill’.

In a copy of the new bill made available to our reporter , an SS1 student of the secondary school located at Ilesa (name withheld) is charging N147,000 for the term.

According to the bill, the tuition is N60,000; the list of books is N52,000; two pairs of uniform, N13,000; sport wears, N8,000; Thursday wears cost N2,500, while Friday wears cost a sum of N2,000.

Also, each pupil is expected to pay N3,500 for laboratory; N3,000 as development levy; N2,000 for maintenance and N1,000 for a necktie.

It was gathered that most parents are not finding it easy to raise money to foot the new bill.