A father of one of the pupils at a private school in the state, Mallam Ahmad Abdulganiy, said he had met with the school administrator to negotiate part payment of the fees as he could not afford to pay in full.Abdulganiy said he had decided to withdraw his wards from the private school to a public one so he would meet up with the demands of their education.
Efforts to however speak with the Chairman of Ogun State Universal Basic Education Board, Dr Femi Majekodunmi, were not successful as calls put through to his mobile numbers were not answered and text messages were yet to be responded to as of press time.The Information Officer, Gombe State Ministry of Education, Saidu Malala, said the fuel subsidy must have had an impact on school attendance, adding that the statistics unit would clarify the actual number two weeks from school resumption.
Another parent, Dogo Gombe, said, “I had to contemplate the possibility of withdrawing my children, and I had no better option than to change their school to another private school in the metropolis because of the cost of Keke Napep .”has gathered that some schools in Borno State may be hit by rampant absenteeism and substantial dropout by pupils due to the persistent hardship suffered by parents following the removal of fuel subsidy.
“The problem some private schools are making is that they took it upon themselves to increase the fees without consulting the Parent-Teacher Association of their schools. It has come to our knowledge that some secondary schools don’t even have existing Parents and Teachers Association. There is a need to bring together the parents and teachers of the school, with the principal, to discuss the way forward concerning the running of the school and then to find a solution or a way out.