Schools Resumption: Private schools have right to charge third term fees – Minister

The Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, says private school owners are entitled to charge fees for the third term as schools start resuming for exit classes.

Mr Nwajiuba said this at the media briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic on Monday in Abuja.

He was reacting to a question on if it was proper for private schools to charge the third term fee since the period the exiting students would spend in school is short.

The minister said that private school owners were running a business venture and not a charity organisation.

He added that “for public institutions, we can’t tell you that we charge school fees, as most of our schools are free. Public schools are free and vary from state to state.

“But when you go into a contractual relationship with a school owner, a school owner is a passionate person, but is also a business person. He or she is not running a charity organisation, they may be charitable in their approach, but it’s not charity.

“So, it’s important that you appreciate that a private school is entitled to charge fees for the work they do. The person that runs a school may be passionate about education but will still charge fees.”

Mr Nwajiuba said that “once the WAEC examination starts on August 17, it will run till the middle of September and NABTEB will start immediately and run till October.”

He said “NECO examination will start on October 10, about a week to the end of NABTEB and run through to November.

“We don’t just want them to be in school and be playing, this is exit class, it says a lot about the six years spent in secondary school.

“Right now, we are lifting the registration for NABTEB and NECO, continuously running, even while we are about to begin WAEC.

‘”All examinations are a test of outcomes. We will want our teachers to continuously engage the students,” he said.

Mr Nwajiuba emphasised that schools resumption was for exit classes at the moment, adding that some schools had even opened on Monday, August 3.

He said, “I monitored developments in Lagos State, where some schools opened and cleaned the classes and the environment, while some other states will open as the week proceeds.”

(NAN)

NLC react to the #25,000 Covid–19 test

The attention of Nigeria Labour Congress has been drawn to the directive by Ogun State Government directing SSS3 boarding Students in Private Secondary schools in the State to undergo a compulsory COVID-19 test at the cost of Twenty-Five Thousand  (#25,000.00) Naira while government bears the cost of students in Public Secondary Schools.

The Congress is shocked, that the State Government can contemplate any measure or policy that will further add to the burden of the Citizenry and Parents in this instance, bearing in mind the Socio-Economic which Nigerians are grappling with as a result of COVID-19 Pandemic. The action of government portrayed her as being insensitive to the plight of its Citizenry, especially when we compare this with what is done in other climes, where their governments introduced many palliative measures and even cash grant to families, to cushion the effect of the Pandemic.

We, therefore, condemn in strong terms, the introduction of dichotomy and discriminating policies between Students of Public and Private Schools in the State, as we found no moral justification whatsoever for this practice. If testing for COVID-19 must be done for any category of students, it should be free for all students irrespective of whether they are in Public or Private Schools.

We hereby call on His Excellency, the Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun MFR to immediately step-in-to the matter and direct immediate reversal of this directive, and ensure that no student in the State is discriminated against on the basis of attending private school.

We also call on the government to be alive to its responsibilities by ensuring adequate provision of necessary tools, equipments and other consumables for safe re-opening of schools, this call becomes imperative to maintain and promote the existing industrial peace and harmony in the State.