By Ambrose Ologide.
Private School owners in Delta State under the aegis of APSON, TOPSON, NAPPS, OSON, OPSA and AISPON have appealed to Governor Sheriff Francis Oborevwori to intervene in an alleged increase in fees/ levies by Delta State ministries in charge of primary and secondary schools .
This was contained in a letter of appeal written by their lawyers to Governor Oborevwori, titled: ‘ Burdensome and Unconscionable Levies Amounting To Extortion of Private Schools In Delta State: Appeal For Intervention. ‘ dated 3rd February, 2025, made available to newsmen in Warri last weekend.
The aggrieved private school owners stated among other things that inspite of the present economic crunch, they agreed to pay the sum of two thousand and fifty naira per pupil to the ministry in charge of primary education before pupils in their schools may be allowed to register for primary six certificate examination and that likewise , they agreed to pay the sum of two hundred naira per student before students in their schools may be allowed to register for WAEC or NECO O’ level examinations as requested by the ministry in charge of secondary education.
‘ The burden of meeting up with the foregoing payments are fearful, coupled with the demand to keep up with the basic infrastructure and over head cost in the present economic regime ‘ the letter added.
The private school owners also stated that ‘ Nevertheless, on 20th January 2025, the supervisory ministries of primary and secondary education in the state issued circulars , demanding that a payment of total of three thousand,five hundred naira per pupil to the ministry of primary school before pupils in their schools may be allowed to register for primary six certificate examination and that a payment of a total sum of four hundred naira per student to the ministry in charge of secondary schools before students in their schools may be allowed to register for the WAEC or NECO O’ level examinations.
‘ The amount translates into a humongous figure, given the total number of students in private schools across the state.
‘ It is more worrisome that these amounts are not chargeable on pupils and students from public schools in the state.’ the letter noted .
The letter also noted that ‘the increase in fees and levies in private schools amount to 200 percent increase and levied with extortionist tendencies under the present economy .The private schools are barely gasping for survival.
‘ It would be too burdensome to pass the burden of the contentious fee schedule to pupils and students whose parents are groaning under the hash economy.’ the letter added
The private school owners also complained that they have made several attempts to interface with the authorities of the relevant supervisory ministries to discuss the alleged contentious fees / levies to no avail as they alleged that the ministries in charge often avoid such meetings, directing the aggrieved private school owners to communicate with the governor ‘ who directed that they should be so levied.
‘This is the reason we are writing your Excellency ‘ the letter explained .
The letter then highlighted the importance of the contributions of private schools to the development of education in the state as they appealed to Governor Oborevwori to direct a meeting between the private school owners and the ministries in charge of primary and secondary education with a view of reviewing and agreeing on the payment of a workable fees/ levies for private schools in Delta State.
