Some parents of students of Oriwu Model College in Ikorodu, Lagos, on Sunday protested the increase of boarding fees by the Lagos State Government.
The parents, who carried out the peaceful protest at the gate of the college, demanded the immediate reversal of the boarding fees which was increased from N35,000 to N100,000.
The Chairman of the college’s Parents Forum Association, Mr Kazeem Oladuni, appealed to the state Ministry of Education to reverse the increment to enable their wards to resume school.
“Our children were supposed to resume on September 9, but we received a memo that one week has been added, which expired today, September 15.
“To our surprise, another memo came out on September 13, indicating that the boarding fees have been increased from N35,000 to N100,000.
“We held a meeting with the Lagos State Coordinator of PFA and resolved that the fees are outrageous for any parent at this time of hardship in the country,” he said.
Also, Mrs Adedoyin Badmus, who spoke on behalf of parents in the Igbogbo Area, Ikorodu, said education was supposed to be free.
Badmus, however, said the government was making it difficult for the children of many average Nigerians to acquire education with the sudden and astronomical increase in boarding fees.
Similarly, another parent, Mrs Mary Enaayi, appealed to the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to consider the plights of many parents who are petty traders and struggle to ensure that their children access quality education.
Enaayi urged the state government to urgently reverse the fees to allow dividends of democracy to cut across all strata of society.
“I am appealing to LASG to consider that some parents are traders, but because they want their children to have quality education, that is why they registered them as boarders.
“With this outrageous amount, the careers of those wards will be shattered because their parents can not afford to pay the N100,000.
“Some have two or three children in the school, which means they have to withdraw due to the sudden increment,” she said.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the parents carried placards with inscriptions like ‘No reduction, No resumption’, ‘We need free education’, ‘Our government is wicked’, and ‘N35,000 to N100,000 is too outrageous’, among others.
In similar vein, In a viral video, parents were seen gathered outside Lagos Model Colleges in Ojo and Meiran, holding peaceful protests and urging the school management to reconsider the recent fee hike.
“We cannot afford these new fees, and until they reverse it, our children will not return to school,” one frustrated parent declared during the demonstration.
The protesting parents held placards with messages such as, “From N35,000 to N100,000,” “No Reversal, No Entry,” “Say No to Boarding School Fee Hike,” and “Where is the Free Education You Promised Our Children?”
The fee increase has triggered widespread outrage, with many accusing the schools of being insensitive to the economic difficulties currently faced by families across the country.
On Sunday, parents of boarding students at Eva Adelaja Girls Grammar School in Bariga, Lagos, staged a protest against the Lagos State government’s decision to raise boarding fees from N35,000 to N100,000.
Gathering in large numbers, the parents chanted slogans and called for an immediate reversal of the fee hike, declaring that the school would not resume until their demands were addressed.
The protesters carried banners and placards with messages like “No Reversal, No Resumption!” “Free Education is Our Right,” and “We Say No to This Fee Increment.”