Senator reacts as FG hikes unity school fees to N75,000

– Senator Shehu Sani, he Senate committee chairman on local and foreign debts has condemned the federal government for the hike in school fees of unity schools
 – He said government schools should never be unaffordable for parents to give their children an education.
– Senator Sani said he will raise the issue on the floor of the Senate when the lawmakers return from their recess

Senator Shehu Sani representing Kaduna Central has criticized the decision of the federal government to increase the tuition fees of unity schools to N75,000. He took to his Facebook page to air his views on the matter stating no government school should neither be privatized or high-priced for students to pay school fees. Senator Sani who is also the Senate committee chairman on local and foreign debts described the action taken by the federal government and “inconsiderate”. “The reported hike in tuition fees for students of federal government colleges is intolerable and inconsiderate of the suffering of parents in this harsh economic times.

“Federal government colleges are essential and ever relevant institutions for national cohesion.
“The schools must neither be privatized nor made unaffordable for the children of the poor. “They must be well funded and equipped to provide quality secondary school education while grooming a generation of leaders ever committed to the unity of this country,” he wrote. However, he said that he will raise the issue on the floor of the Senate when they return from recess. “When we are back from recess, I’ll surely press for a reversal in the Senate,” he said. However, just a week ago, the ministry of education approved and released a new schedule of fees for all unity schools in the country increasing tuition from N20,000 to N75,000. This was disclosed in a memo sent by the education ministry’s department of basic and secondary education to all principals of unity schools, the government specified the details of the fees. This has conceived a battle between the federal government and the National Parents and Teachers Association (PTA) of federal government colleges over the matter.

The Nigerian parents argued that it was an insensitive move groaning under a harsh economic environment that the country is currently undergoing. The association which has accused the federal government of commercialising education in the country, warned that its members would now be forced to withdraw their children from such schools if the policy is not reversed.


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