Parents decry, reject N50,000 feeding fee on Model College students in Lagos

Coalition of Chairmen and Executives of Lagos State Model Colleges Parents’ Forum has described the N50, 000 feeding fee imposed by the Lagos State Government as insensitive, rejecting it in its entirety.

The body also said that the state Ministry of Education’s urge to parents to pay the N50, 000 as the feeding fee per term was inconsiderate.

The Chairman of the coalition, Dapo Dawodu, a surveyor, had said in a statement that the parents’ body later accepted N30, 000 fee and stated the decision in letters sent to the governor, state House of Assembly and the Commissioner for Education.

The parents, in the statement, decried a situation whereby the minimum wage is N30, 000 and such parents with three children at a model college would be paying N150, 000, in addition to other expenses.

“The coalition has presented parents’ unanimous decision of a review to N30, 000, which is inclusive of hostel requirements and ancillaries per student. The body requests the inclusion of parents who are professionals in kitchen management in the school kitchen affairs. The coalition also demands the inclusion of parent body in the administration of the fees paid by students for accountability,” the statement further read.

It was learnt that at the initial stage, the Commissioner of Education, Mrs Folasade Adefisayo called Parents Forum Chairmen and Secretaries for a meeting at Maryland, and had informed them of an intended increase of fees to N125, 000 from N25, 000, which is 400 per cent hike, due to what was said to be a hike in current market prices, saying that they had already contacted the stakeholders.

The parents’ representatives had rejected the increase immediately, telling the education commissioner that was supposed to have been invited to the meeting as part of the stakeholders.

As a result of the response, the Commissioner reportedly reduced the fee to N75, 000 but they still rejected it, saying that it was too high.

About two weeks later, another meeting was reportedly held at Ojodu Grammar school, with only state model colleges chairmen for negotiation, at which the Commissioner of Education again reduced the boarding fees from N75, 000 to N50, 000, which the parents still rejected, reiterating their earlier demand for it to be made N30,000.

The Commissioner had responded that the ministry could not go below the N50, 000 fee, making the parents to suggest N40, 000, including hostel materials and provisions usually given to their children monthly, but this was not agreed on, leading to the end of the meeting.

Since then, nothing had been done, according to the parents’ forum.

The parents added that they wrote another to the state governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, but up till the present moment, there had been no response.

They said further that the Commissioner for Education called for a meeting almost three weeks ago with only two model colleges, Badagry & Kankon, out of 32 in the state, which agreed on N50, 000 with her without the consent of other model colleges and the parents in the two colleges.

Last week, a letter was said to have been delivered at Lagos State House of Assembly with the attachment of acknowledgement copy of letter to the Commissioner of Education, and acknowledgement of the letter to the governor but had yet to get any response.

(Nigerian Tribune)