Politicians, others pay N1.5m yearly for kids

As overcrowding and inadequate facilities hinder public schools in Abuja, operators of private schools are smiling to the banks reaping bountiful harvest from politicians, contractors and rich Nigerians who pay between N1m and N2.5m to keep their children in schools, SEGUN OLUGBILE reports.

It is true that education is expensive. But I tell you that the cost of quality secondary school education in Abuja can tempt one to cuddle ignorance. Schools here are so expensive that you will think their owners want us to break banks before we can give our children good secondary school education,” the obviously frustrated civil servant with the Federal Ministry of Finance, Abuja, Mr. Fidelis Abutu, lamented.

Abutu, from Benue State, is only speaking the minds of Abuja residents, who have been groaning under the heavy burden of huge tuition charged by private schools in the Federal Capital Territory. Most of the residents who spoke with our correspondent in Abuja last week could not understand why they must pay as high as N1.5m per session in highbrow schools. They could not also understand why secondary education could be as expensive as paying between N1.5m and N2.5m per session per child. Some of these schools are owned by politicians, religious organisations and individuals.

For instance, an Edo-born politician who contested the governorship election in the state in 2007, is said to be the owner of Pacesetters Academy, Wuse, one of the high fee paying private secondary schools in Abuja. Each pupil of Pacesetters pays N1m per session aside sundry fees. Pupils of Nigerian Turkish International School, Abuja, pay over N1.5m per session. The ailing President Umaru Yar‘Adua‘s children are said to be schooling in this expensive school. Unconfirmed reports said that some governors from the Northern part of the country also have their children in this school. Schools whose tuition ranges from N1m to N2.5m per session include; WhitePlain British School, Jabi, Capital Science Academy, Lugbe, and Loyola Jesuit College, where children of some prominent members of the National Assembly are schooling. In terms of facilities, most of these high brow schools have adequate facilities, qualified teachers and in fact prepare their pupils for International Baccalaureate examinations, Test of English as a Foreign Languages and the Scholastic Aptitude Test for admission to universities in the United States of America. They also prepare their pupils for the International General Certificate of Secondary Education being used for admission to colleges and universities in the United Kingdom.

Others that charge between N650, 000 and N1m per session include Funtaj International School, Kuje, owned by a Yoruba couple in Abuja, Sherryl College, Jikwe, and African International School, near the Abuja National Stadium. Schools such as Stella Maris College, Area 1, Garki, Olumawu Private School and Divine Mercy Secondary School, Asokoro provide a manageable haven for middle level Nigerians desirous of quality education.

Tuition in these middle-level schools ranges from between N70,000 and N120,000 per session. Their counterparts in the public secondary schools in FCT pay less. State public school pupils pay N3,000 each per term while fresh pupils in JSS1 and SS1 pay between N11,000 and N18, 000 respectively. The extra tuition caters for school uniforms, cardigan and mathematics and English textbooks. Because they pay less, their schools lack the required aids that could enhance teaching and learning unlike private schools.

However, some stakeholders said that huge tuition could not guarantee quality. A parent, Mr. Frank Omojo, from Kogi State, said he was forced to withdraw his son from a high fee paying school in Abuja to one of the low profile private schools in one of the satellite towns of the FCT.

He said, ”There are a few private schools that are very good. Their quality and standard are high but you will pay tuition through your nose. But there are others that are just there to make money alone. I paid almost N700,000 per session but to my chagrin, I discovered that standard and quality of teaching there was bad.”

He warned Nigerians in search of schools for their children not to be carried away by beauty. ”Beautiful environment is good but you may end up helping the proprietor to pay his or her rent with your child gaining nothing,” he said.

Omojo said he fell for the many marketing strategies employed by school owners to woo parents to enroll their children in their schools.

Some of these marketing strategies, an Abuja-based Early Childhood Education expert, Mr. Wale Aduroja, said included adoption of foreign curriculum, excursion to Britain, America and South Africa, usage of imported school uniforms and employment of expatriates, particularly Europeans and Americans as principal or school administrator. ”It does not matter whether the white man is a drop out in his country, so, long as he or she is white, he will get a job and the school would be displaying him as their marketing tool,” he said.

Investigations showed that some good private schools in Akwanga and Keffi charge between N150, 000 and N250,000 per session for boarding pupils. A former Medical Doctor of the National Team, Super Eagles, Dr. Henry Njekwu, said private schools in most parts of the country were not qualified for operational license.

According to him, education is an all round issue and a situation whereby schools are operated without sporting facilities and playing fields is not ideal.

Asked why private schools are so expensive in the FCT? A teacher in Government Secondary School, Jiwa, who pleaded anonymity for possible fear of persecution, said poor welfare of public school teachers, government‘s insensitivity and lack of planning, inadequate schools and classrooms and Nigerians‘ love for ‘high class living‘ were responsible for the trend.

The teacher said, ”In my school, we have six arms of senior secondary school classes and over 60 and 70 pupils are in a class meant for 40 pupils. That is overcrowding. Good learning cannot take place under such condition. In satellite schools like here (Jiwa), we don‘t have adequate teachers, so the few ones are overworked.”

An Abuja resident, who works with a construction company, Mr. Musa Eneja, confirmed this but added that the high cost of land and rent in Abuja were partly responsible for the huge tuition.

”You cannot really blame the school owners for the high tuition. Cost of land, of construction and rent are so high in FCT. The owner must pay workers, incur other running costs and possibly make profit. Some of them are running the schools on loan from banks, so we cannot really put the blame on them,” he said.

However, the Proprietor, Prime Scholar‘s Academy, Karu, Abuja, Dr. Titilayo Shittu, noted that high tuition was as a result of the involvement of traders in the running of education.

”I tell you, if you don‘t really have passion for education, you cannot run a school because education is not a money-making venture. Some of these people are just doing junk for the people and unfortunately, our people like high sounding, huge tuition charging institutions. They are not bothered about quality. That is why where a school uniform is made could determine where they enrol their children. That is not reasonable. Government must do the right thing by strengthening its unit and ensuring that passionate educators are giving operational licence,” she said.

However, some residents said that the owners of the private schools are only reacting to the law of demand and supply.

”The number of schools we have in FCT could not cope with the increasing population. So, if we must stop them, government must establish more schools, decongest the classrooms of existing ones and ensure that teaching and learning facilities are provided on a regular basis. We should plan ahead based on population and motivate the teachers,” a postgraduate student of the University of Abuja, Moses Duamlong said.

Duamlong‘s position on limited number of schools in the FCT may not be far from the truth. The Public Relations Officer to the Secretary of Education, FCT, Mr. Anthony Ogunleye, said the FCT had 87 junior secondary schools, 53 senior secondary schools, 487 primary schools and 210 registered private schools.

Ogunleye‘s boss, Alhaji Halilu Pai had also at a press briefing admitted that schools in FCT needed additional 3,719 classrooms if they must meet the required standard. Though he said that the FCT allocated 27 per cent of its budget to education in 2009, the government would need N40bn to raise the standard of education to acceptable levels.

On the increasing hike in tuition by public schools, Ogunleye explained that the FCT government was aware of the trend, adding that the issue had been discussed at various fora including two ministerial town hall meetings hosted by the Minister of FCT, Alhaji Adamu Aliero after complaints from parents.

”But the bottomline is that government cannot set specific fees for private schools. What we do however is to ensure that fees charged are commensurate with the services provided. You must be aware that some parents are willing to pay so much for the education of their children. Where there are such parents available you can be sure that there will be schools willing to oblige them,” he said.

”The FCT has a peculiar problem of constant influx of people. Despite tremendous attempts at the construction of classrooms and provision of facilities, they are sometimes overstretched. We have embarked on the massive construction of classrooms and even new schools. We constructed 16 new schools and hundreds of new classrooms last year. We hope to continue with this trend this year,” he said.