It is no longer news that many private school teachers have been at the mercy of kind-hearted people since the Federal Government shut Nigerian schools to limit the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike their counterparts in public schools that have continued to get paid for job not done, private school teachers have since been deprived of their means of livelihood. In certain cases, husbands and wives work in private schools and both have to rely on others’ benevolence to survive.
Aside this, Nigeria has always funded private businesses. For example, government subsidises fertiliser for farmers. This is in spite of concerns that the real poor farmers rarely benefit from such subsidy. Are these not private businesses? In fact, government has not forgotten these farmers in the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic.
Whether we want to admit it or not, many private schools will go with this pandemic. Already, there are pictures of some classrooms that have been turned to poultry farms on the social media. As usual, people in charge of our education are not concerned about the implication of what is happening now. But, in months ahead, access to private school education may likely become more competitive with the few survivors among these schools charging higher tuition.