COVID-19: Joint committee of private schools in Kano rejects 25% discount on 3rd term fees

Desmond Mgboh, Kano

The Joint Committee of Private and Voluntary Schools Association, Kano State chapter, has rejected the 25 per cent discount on third school fees imposed on their members by the Kano State government.

In a statement in Kano, Monday, the Committee, comprising of Association of Model Islamic Schools, (AMIS), National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools and Independent Schools Proprietors Association insisted that they have not accepted any form of discount contrary to misrepresentation by the State Ministry of Education.

The statement was signed by Engineer Basheer Adamau Bello, the Chairman of Association of Model Islamic Schools, (AMIS), Alhaji Mohammed Mallam Adamu , the Chairman of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools and Mrs. Fatima CAN Bello, the Chairperson of the Independent Schools Proprietors Association.

The Committee equally placed on record that contrary to claims by some government officials, members of their associations across the state did not receive any form of financial assistance from the state government during the 7- month lockdown of schools in the state.

They also expressed reservation over attempts by marry the issue of the cancellation of third term academic session in the state with the issue 25 per cent discount of school fees as directed by their state government, while cautioning that both issues are different and should be treated differently by the authorities.

While noting the huge negative impacts of the 7 – month shut down of schools, they observed that any further cancellation of the academic session in the state would only worsen the already bad academic situation.They, however, declared that they were ready to cooperate with the government in this regard in interest of an overriding public interest.

Meanwhile, the Joint Committee has discredited a press statement issued on Sunday by the State Ministry of Education, Kano State on the contending issue.

They said that the position expressed by one Hajiya Maryam Magaji, the National Vice President of APSON and one Murtala Hussain, the Vice Chairman APSON, claiming during a visit to the Commissioner of Education, Kano State, that they had accepted the 25 percent discount did not represent their stand.

The Committee alerted the members of the public that the said Hajiya Maryam Magaji is an employee of SUBEB, a state government agency, while her counterpart during the visit, Murtala, is an Assistant Director with the Kano State Private and Voluntary Institutions Board

“It is, therefore, surprising that staff of Kano State Ministry of Education are coming out to speak on behalf of the Proprietors of Private Schools in the state” they declared.