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Parents groan over school fees (2)

– Schools relax rules of payment

Due to the state of the economy and constant complains from all angles about things being tough, there is a believe that the current cash crunch might have had an effect on the education system causing some parents to withdraw their wards from schools to stay at home till they can afford to pay the tuition, while some are said to withdraw their children from their former schools to less expensive schools. ENCOMIUM Weekly had a chat with parents and some school authorities about this claim and to know what methods parents are using to keep their children in school.

 

PARENTS

MRS. JOANA ADERIBIGBE

Has the dwindling economy of Nigeria affected your ability to pay your children’s school fees this term?

Yes, it has, the economy is getting really terrible.

How are you coping?

I am managing though it hasn’t been easy.

Has the thought of withdrawing occurred to you?

Yes, I actually withdrew my children from their former school, to a cheaper one because the former school increased their fees without prior notice.

 

  1. DEMILADE ADENIYI

Has the dwindling economy of Nigeria affected your ability to pay your children’s school fees this term?

No, it hasn’t.

How are you coping?

I have no complain so I’m coping quite well.

Has the thought of withdrawing occurred to you?

No, it hasn’t.

 

  1. ADENLE

Has the dwindling economy of Nigeria affected your ability to pay your children’s school fees this term?

Yes, it has.

How are you coping?

I’m not coping too well. I had to borrow money to pay my son’s tuition because I don’t want him to stay out of school.

Has the thought of withdrawing occurred to you?

The thought of withdrawing hasn’t occurred to me yet and I believe God will keep providing.

 

  1. MATTHIAS

Has the dwindling economy of Nigeria affected your ability to pay your children’s school fees this term?

No, it hasn’t, though people have complained bitterly but I thank God that it’s not been so bad for my family and I.

How are you coping?

I’m coping very well and have no complain so far.

Has the thought of withdrawing occurred to you?

No, it hasn’t, I don’t think it will happen. I have to keep working hard to make sure my children get the best education.

 

  1. OLUWAFUNMINIYI DANIELS

Has the dwindling economy of Nigeria affected your ability to pay your children’s school fees this term?

No, it has not. My children’s school fees remain the same and I already kept the fees safely so the economy hasn’t affected my ability to pay my children’s school fees so far.

How are you coping?

I am coping very well for now and I hope that eventually things will get better for Nigeria.

Has the thought of withdrawing occurred to you?

No, it hasn’t.

 

MRS. LINDA OLADAMILEKUN

Has the dwindling economy of Nigeria affected your ability to pay your children’s school fees?

Yes, it has. It is so hard now to pay. Despite the fact that we prepared ahead of time, some things cropped up and we had to use the money. But we paid eventually.

How are you coping?

We are coping by God’s grace. We planned ahead, prayed and God sorted things out.

Has the thought of withdrawing them occurred to you?

No, not at all, I would rather take them to a better school.

 

  1. WALE DOUGLAS

Has the dwindling economy of Nigeria affected your ability to pay your children’s school fees?

Every Nigerian is feeling the heat, even the rich. Parents are withdrawing their children from private schools. You need to see the crowd that troop every morning to Government schools.

How are you coping?

We are depending on God, doing all manners of businesses to cope. We also pay in bits. We pay for the elder first, then the younger one.

Has the thought of withdrawing them occurred to you?

No, not at all. Private school is still better than government school.

 

MRS MONSURAT SULEMAN

Has the dwindling economy of Nigeria affected your ability to pay your children’s school fees?

The economy has been tough since last year. We are just trying to keep our heads above water. I have a friend that has been complaining bitterly because he pays school fees in dollars.

How are you coping?

God’s grace is sufficient for us. We are trying to cope.

Has the thought of withdrawing them occurred to you?

Yes, I discussed it with their father but he discouraged it. He insisted we should give our children the best education.

 

  1. VICTOR OLAMIDE

Has the dwindling economy of Nigeria affected your ability to pay your children’s school fees?

It is really affecting us not because parents are lazy but because things are really tough nowadays. We have not been paid for months now in Osun state. I had to sell some of my personal effects to feed the family.

How are you coping?

We are finding it really tough to cope, I must tell you.

Has the thought of withdrawing them occurred to you?

Yes, I have even taken the last born to a government school. The two at the university are still there. We borrowed money to pay their tuition fees last session.

 

  1. ADEWOLE OYELEKE

Has the dwindling economy of Nigeria affected your ability to pay your children’s school fees?

The economy is biting harder and people are feeling the pains. It is really hard to see a man without multiple means of income. God will help salvage the situation before it gets out of hand.

How are you coping?

We depend on God for divine intervention. We are working hard and saving as well.

Has the thought of withdrawing them occurred to you?

Those in secondary schools are now in government secondary schools. We are left with no choice than to do that.

 

SCHOOL OWNERS, TEACHERS

MRS. AINA OMOLE

Has the dwindling economy of Nigeria affected the population of pupils, students in your school?

The economy is having a great effect on the population of schools. Parents are withdrawing their children and taking them to government schools. Some find it difficult to pay school fees and even buy text books for their children. Government is not helping matters at all.

What are the strategies you are applying to retain pupils?

What other strategy can be used? We need money to run the school, pay teachers and all necessary levies.

 

  1. JOHNSON

Has the dwindling economy of Nigeria affected the population of pupils, students in your school?

The economy is affecting us especially this session in Kogi state. This is the fourth month government has not paid salary. The population in schools has dropped. We run a boarding school, a lot of parents withdrew their children from boarding house.

What are the strategies you are applying to retain pupils?

We had to call parents of pupils we didn’t see in school to know what happened. We ask some to bring their children back and write an undertaking to state when they will pay. We ask some to pay twice.

Some schools are even downsizing the number of employees they have while some have reduced their school fees.

 

MISS TOSIN ATOYEBI

Has the dwindling economy of Nigeria affected the population of pupils, students in your school?

Yes, to a very large extent. Things are not as easy as they used to be. A lot of parents are struggling, some have not been paid for months now, no money to eat talk less of paying school fees.

What are the strategies you are applying to retain pupils?

Private schools should bring down their prices. There are schools increasing their fees during the second term. Teachers should be well paid.

 

MRS. OKOYE

Has the dwindling economy of Nigeria affected the population of pupils in your school?

Yes, the dwindling economy has affected the population of pupils. Some students have still not resumed school.

What are the strategies you are applying to retain pupils?

We would be calling parents one after the other to know what ways to make things easier for both parties.

 

MISS ADEBANJO

Has the dwindling economy of Nigeria affected the population of pupils in your school?

Yes, it has, and it is nobody’s fault that the economy is down. For us to keep providing quality education, we had to increase tuition and a lot of parents are not happy but it is beyond us.

What are the strategies you are using to retain pupils?

We would give parents more time to pay their children’s fees because we know the situation of things.

 

MRS AJANAKU

Has the dwindling economy of Nigeria affected the population of pupils in your school?

Yes, it has. We have felt it already as a few students have stopped coming. On calling the parents their excuse was school fees. It’s so sad, and it’s not our fault, it is the current state of the economy. Some parents have enrolled their children in schools with less tuition and others in public school.

What are the strategies you are applying to retain pupils?

We definitely can’t reduce school fees. The only thing we can do is give them more time to pay because we are humans too and we know how hard times are.

 

MR DAVIES

Has the dwindling economy of Nigeria affected the population of pupils in your school?

No, it hasn’t, the population of pupils in our school hasn’t dropped at all. Our school fees remain the same and the quality remains the same. Our school remains one of the best in our area, so I doubt if parents who cherish quality education would want to settle for less.

What are the strategies you are applying to retain pupils?

We’ll continue to give quality education and have a cordial relationship with all parents.

  • SHADE WESLEY-METIBOGUN and TINUOLA JOSEPH
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