Parents of boarding students at Eva Adelaja Girls Grammar School in Bariga, Lagos State, are protesting against the state government’s recent increase in feeding fees from N35,000 to N100,000.
The school is one of the model colleges in the state.
The protest which began on Sunday has a large group of parents storming the school area, chanting slogans and demanding an immediate reversal of the fee hike.
They have insisted that their wards will not resume until their demands are met.
Defying the scheduled resumption, the parents pledged to continue the protest until the government relents.
Some of the parents voiced their frustrations with one of them saying: “Why do you want to keep our children at home? Don’t keep our children at home. We can’t afford this money, this money is too much. Our children want to go to school.”
“Solidarity forever!!! We will always fight for our rights.
“We want free education. Economy is biting on everybody.
“It is not done anywhere and it is not going to happen from N35,000 to N100,000,” some of the protesters said.
Meanwhile, the parents of students attending Lagos Model Colleges had threatened that their children would boycott the schools over a recent hike in boarding fees.
The parents, therefore, demanded the reversal of the 200% increase in boarding fees.
According to the parents’ forum, their wards will not resume for the new academic session until the hike in boarding fees is reversed.
In a statement issued on Saturday night, the Chairman of the Parents’ Forum of Lagos Model Colleges, Surv. Dapo Dawodu, lamented the “greed” behind the increment.
He said, “We have witnessed, in the last 24 hours, an avalanche of outpouring of extreme disdain, anguish and deep frustration at the mindless and provocative 200% increment of boarding fees for our children, by the mindlessly corrupt officers of the Lagos State Ministry of Education!
“And it was most unfortunate that the unbridled greed of these enemies of the good people of Lagos State (vide you the parents), were given their leeway by the headship of the ministry.
“To be clear, the fee of N100,000 per term, when paid in a school of 1000 students, translates to N100million in the purse of the school principal to feed the children within just 3 months!
“Recall that for this same exercise, the same principal had carried same out for less than N35 million previously! Down scaling in a school of 500 students, a principal wants to spend N50 million for an exercise that they had achieved previously below N17.5million paid by parents!
“If our Honourable Commissioner is not scandalized at this, we parents find it exceedingly odious! In order to improve the feeding & welfare of our children in these schools, we had proposed a good scheme of the Feeding & Welfare Analysis in February 2024 to the ministry, which they have not been able to fault till date!
“Taking another view of the whole educational programme, Lagos State boasts of a free education policy, to which the boarding programme ought not to have been excluded.
“But parents of boarding students seemed to have shown understanding with then past govts, when the cash crunch was heavily against the State many, many years ago!
“But presently, all tiers of govt are now receiving over 350% better funding, occasioned by the removal of subsidy which same exercise excessively depleted parents’ spending power by 600% and more!”
The parents’ forum said it is in light of the foregoing that “we find it very unacceptable for parents to be put through another round of oppression through this mindless increment!”
It added, “Having taken due cognisance of your yearnings, we quite agree that for us parents not to swallow this wicked bait from the govt in the face of threats from some principals not to let our children into the boarding houses without the payment of N100,000 effected, we are left with no option but to ask that parents retain their children/wards at home tomorrow Sunday 15th until the obnoxious decision of the ministry is fully reversed!”
Sahara Reporters
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