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• As pupils, students return to school amid harsh economic condition
By Cosmas Omegoh and Agatha Emeadi
Certain things have become peculiar with the month of September, the truth many parents have come to know for a long time. But for others, that might just be news.
At the moment, some parents will tell you that September has become a month of pain. To them, the mere mention of September elicits deep emotions of pain, sadness and sorrow. It drives up their blood pressure, forcing their hearts to skip their beat.
It might, therefore, not surprise anyone if it is found out that the only parents whose minds are at rest about this time are the rich. Perhaps, school proprietors or proprietress will be the next. But the latter claim that is not the situation.
Indeed, the month of September everyone knows, is school resumption time for students and pupils who are coming out from their long holidays.
At this time, parents are compelled to pay school fees for their children and wards. Thereafter, they are faced with the challenge of paying for school uniforms, books, other fees and levies. Those of them whose children were promoted to new classes or changing to new schools about this time have a taller mountain to climb.
Now, the bigger challenge is: As the economy totters and sputters on unsure lane, many parents are increasingly finding it difficult to sustain a living even at the minimal level. When that combines with the thought of paying rent and catering for the children’s education, many parents find themselves in a quandary. That is why many of them are groaning in deep pains now, while some are somewhere in their closets, seething with anger.
It is only those of them who are school owners that are smiling to the banks as their students and pupils begin to return to pay school fees. The rest are in pains – some gnashing their teeth.
Parents’ pains, complaints
Some parents Sunday Sun spoke to recently admitted that this is not the best of times for them.
A parent, Rufus Akinola, affirmed that September had long become a very difficult month in his life and those of some other parents he knew.
“I have two children who are in a missionary school in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State. The school fees are relatively high, but the quality of what they are getting there is good.
“But with the present condition of things in the country, it is becoming extremely difficult to sustain them there. The cost of taking them back to school alone leaves me gutted.
“I’m sure there are many parents like me who feel the same way I feel,” he said.
Akinola revealled that he would be coughing out close to N250,000 to pay for the children’s tuition and boarding fees, fearing that it would take a miracle for him to do that as things stood.
“Every parents desire the best for their children. But what we are suffering now is lack of money to support our children to become the best they can be.
“The economy is nosediving. People are not making the money as before. Worse still, the little that trickles in has lost immense value. This is the truth the government must realise now,” he said.
A woman, Mrs Beatrice Agomuoh, whose daughter is entering JSS 1 told our correspondent that since August she had been prospecting for a school for her.
“Even when my daughter will be attending school from home as a day student, the fees some of the schools I approached were mentioning were not affordable.
“The least of the fees was as high as N65,000. By the time you add other accompanying fees, cost of uniforms and books, one would be paying close to N150,000,” she said.
In Ikorodu also in Lagos, where our correspondent accosted a parent who did not want his name mentioned, he bared his mind on the challenging situation.
“Do you want to tell the whole world that I have not paid my children’s school fees?” he first barked.
When asked if he had indeed done so, this September, he fired back: “I am not ashamed that I have not paid.
“I have not owed this school in the last five years, but it has become pretty difficult now to pay due to the economic crunch which is affecting all and sundry.”
Delving into the heart of the matter, he recalled: “I own a business centre, which has been hugely affected by android phones and other devices
“Much of the little money we make go into buying fuel at exorbitant cost just to power our generating set so that we can remain in business.
“But I had to squeeze myself just to pay school fees for only two of my children, while that of my last child will be paid much later,” he said.
A parent who identified himself as Tony, lamented the difficulty is school fees payment every September.
He recalled that the ritual had become heart rendering nowadays that the economy had gone haywire on every one.
“I’m wondering how to cope with school fees payment this season.
“Last term, I have severe difficulties in paying the school fees for my kids because of my health challenges. Twice, the school threatened to send them away. They almost prevented them from writing their promotion exams last July. I had to beg the school and even sign an undertaking to pay.
“But right now, I have not been able to do that. I’m just wondering how I will face the school this time round,” he lamented.
What some parents do to get by
Knowing the challenge school fees payment poses, some parents said that they had devised ingenious ways of going about it. One of such is Mr Patrick Akaegbu, a father of three, who lives in Igando are area of Lagos State.
“While growing up, my father never failed to pay our school fees. He passed that virtue to us. I have long found it useful even though doing that is though.
“The idea my father passed to us is that tough decision to save every day.
“I deprive my family a lot of things to save for the rainy day to enable me avoid the embarrassment of not paying school fees in time.
“In my home, we have long learnt to shun spending on frivolous things. We have long learnt to say no to buying asoebi anyhow; we have long learnt to minimise the use of our generating set, and taking the kids to eateries often, among other things. All that have been very helpful,” he said.
Another parent, Emeka Onuoha, told our correspondent that because his savings were next to nothing, he often borrowed money to pay his kids’ school fees each time the situation was hard on him.
“My brother in-law has been very helpful all the way. He is well off.
“Each time I run to him he helps me out. But I ensure I pay him back every kobo I borrowed from him as soon as possible,” he said.
On the other hand, Mr Johnson said that to cater for school fees payment, he and his wife decided to open a separate bank account with no withdrawal access.
“The account’s name is ‘School Fees’. It is specifically meant to attend to school fees because it is very important,” he disclosed.
On his part, Alhaji Fafowe said that his children were yet to resume school because he had no money to pay their school fees.
He said that once he is paid, the kids would return to school as he hated begging the school for reprieve.
“I hate begging. Yes, I’m in financial distress at the moment. But I’m hopeful of paying soon. Only then will the children return to school,” he emphasised.
How school owners cope
On the other hand, things are not rosy for owners of private schools as earlier thought.
Some of them who spoke to Sunday Sun said that they too are in financial straits, lamenting their challenges and some parents playing all sorts of games with them.
A proprietress of a school in Ikorodu who chose to be anonymous so as not to expose parents in her school said: “I have managed this school for 18 years; I have never experienced what we are going through since I opened this facility.
“Over the years, we only had a few parents who would not meet up with payment of their children’s fees immediately since, of course, we know that all fingers are not equal. But what we are seeing in this September, 2023 is very worrisome.
“Can you imagine that a school with a total of 540 pupils from the basic classes to Primary Six, only about I80 pupils representing 28 per cent of the schol’s population has so far made complete payment right from when we resumed on September 4, 2023?
“What we are seeing mostly is half payment from parents.
“I’m sure most parents did that just to secure their children’s stay and avoid possible embarrassment by the school in future.
“We are having a lot of appeals from parents to help them manage the situation. Of course, if one fails to listen to such pleas, the parents concerned might begin to withdraw their children, and that means a huge loss to the school.
“There are other schools around; if you are not careful in managing the school fees challenge, you will lose out completely.
“Even though we are not running a charity home, we understand the situation and urge them to kindly do the needful as soon as possible.”
A school owner in Isheri-Oshun area of Lagos State lamented that till this moment, some parents were yet to pay their children’s school fees for last term.
And worse still such parents had taken their children to other schools, she said.
“One of such parents lives on our street,” she told our correspondent, adding that “last term, she came here and prostrated severally, pleading that her two kids be left to write their promotional examination and promised to pay and I listened.
“Right now, she has withdrawn her kids; she has as I learnt, taken them to another school.
“Each time she sees me, she would turn her sight away. Is that fair?”
She was unhappy that most parents never realised that they too faced difficulties being in business.
“The situation is not better for us either. Parents often forget that we have teachers to pay. We run generators, and pay for power supply. And we attend the same markets. Therefore, our case is not different.
“Parents who play tricks on us should realise that they draw curses on their children when they fail to pay for the cost of educating them,” she said.
Another school proprietress in Surulere, Lagos, who chose to remain anonymous equally lamented that things were increasingly getting difficult for school owners.
“It is tough nowadays running a school more so when such a school has not been well established.
“Do we need to say that the cost of everything right now is at the roof?
“Every day, the teachers are asking for increases in their salaries. Those who cannot cope, leave and you are faced with the challenge of sourcing their replacement.
“Yet, you cannot increase your fees because the moment you do that, the pupils and their parents will migrate to other schools already waiting for them,” she said.
She also lamented the cost of running a school these days, saying all that combined to drive the standard of education down the hill.
“As it is, most parents cannot afford the cost of books. That in itself is a challenge.
“On our part, we have to pay taxes to the state government; where the property is yours, you also pay tax on it. Every now and then, the local government staff come here to worry us.
“All that aside, you have to drill your own borehole to ensure regular water supply; you have to provide your own electricity; you have to provide transport at a fee – just to ensure that you maintain your school children. It is tough,” she added, to underscore some of the enormity of challenges in the primary education subsector, which many are yet to know.
