In flagrant disregard to prevailing hardship faced by Nigerians, Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory’s newly created operational charges on private schools might lead to an unprecedented imminent hike in fees by such schools operating within the FCT.
Theliberationnews gathered that under the new draconian and insensitive tax regime, each school will be billed according to tuition paid by students and the number of enrolments.
According to sources that spoke to the Theliberationnews, a directive to this effect through a memo is given by Mudi Lawal, Head of Account of the Department of Quality Assurance of the Education Secretariat and was already billed to take effect from January 2024.
The memo was titled: “Review of private school operation charges in FCT,” and it read: “ Following the approval of the Honourable Minister of the FCT for a review of operational charges (annual charge, accreditation, application, re-accreditation, commencement and recognition) payable by private schools in the FCT.
“You are by this letter informed that the old rate of charges cease to be valid as of 31/12/2023 and the new rate of charges effective 1/1/2024.
“Under the new rate, each school is billed according to the tuition charged and the number of enrollments. As a consequence, each school has its peculiar bill. You should also note that all application(s) are now N40,000.”
Meanwhile, the National Association of Private School Owners in the FCT in its response to the Education Secretariat, noted that such a tax review at a time when the Federal Government had promised to eliminate multiple taxes would only increase the cost of education beyond the reach of many parents, thus adding to the population of out-of-school children.
In the letter signed by its Chairperson, Ruqayah Agboola, NAPPS added that the tax review would further put pressure on private schools in the FCT as it would increase their running costs.
The association further stated: “Unfortunately, our members rejected the proposal in its entirety. They cited the hard economy, the huge bank loans outstanding in their books, the unpaid fees by many owing parents, the many levies payable to local government and other agencies, and more importantly payment of their teachers’ salaries, other staff as well as maintenance of our infrastructure.
“Our members, therefore, plead that you use your good office to effect a 50 per cent reduction in the existing annual dues to enable your office to recover the outstanding dues. We will partner with you to achieve this,” the association concluded.
