Education stakeholders in Abia and Imo have expressed deep concern over the exorbitant fees charged by private schools in the country.

A cross-section of the respondents blamed the phenomenon on the lack of effective monitoring of the schools by the regulatory agencies of government at all levels.

In Abia, the people blamed the commercialisation of education by private schools on ineffective regulatory policy frameworks and weak monitoring mechanisms by government agencies.

They spoke in separate interviews, saying the onus was on the government to check the unhealthy phenomenon. They called on the government to evolve an effective monitoring mechanism to
ensure that private schools deliver quality service to their pupils and students.

Osondu Kalu, a father of two, said that effective monitoring of private schools by the relevant authorities would help keep them in check for the purpose of quality education.

Mr Kalu said issues of unqualified teachers, substandard curricula, and uneven education quality have become a disturbing trend in private schools.

He said most parents developed a preference for private schools because of the failure of the government to upgrade the educational facilities in public schools.

Mr Kalu said the school fees in highly rated private schools are high and beyond the reach of an average Nigerian parent.

According to him, the government should address this unfortunate trend among private schools with exorbitant fees.

Mr Kalu, therefore, called for effective monitoring of the private schools by the relevant authorities to ensure that the standard for quality education was maintained.

A civil servant, Dorine Ahamefule, said that some private schools were set up to make money rather than impart knowledge to young minds. Ms Ahamefule said the unusual focus on money instead of imparting knowledge had become a serious challenge, especially given their inability to hire qualified teachers or pay well.

She said parents should feel the effect of the high fees they pay on their children’s academic performance. Ms Ahamefule also said that paying teachers well translates to building a highly motivated teachers staff and better productivity.

A disability advocate, Ikenna Ebiri, urged parents and guardians not to equate high fees with high quality, saying that some affordable schools might offer quality education.

Mr Ebiri said that in spite of the high fees, not all private schools invest adequately in infrastructure or human resources, leading to disparity in the quality of education.

He said that with the proliferation of private schools, maintaining a competitive edge while ensuring affordability and quality is challenging. Mr Ebiri, therefore, called for an enhanced regulatory framework to ensure all schools meet a minimum standard in teacher qualifications, facilities, and curriculum.

He called on the government to make education less elitist through scholarships, waivers to private schools, and remodelling the public school system.

Some parents and education experts also urged the federal and state Governments to support private schools in order to lessen the financial burden they transfer to parents.

They further called on the government to introduce free education in public schools. They urged the government to make public schools more attractive to discourage parents and guardians from patronising substandard and expensive private schools.

The chairman of the Parent-Teacher Association, Holy Rosary Secondary School, Umuahia, Edward Okoro, said the high operational costs contribute to exorbitant fees charged by private schools.

Mr Okoro said that most private schools with populations between 50 and 100 students might be unable to cover their expenses in running the school, including payment of teachers’ salaries.

Also, Rose Uzoka, the dean of the College of Education, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, urged the government to subsidise private schools to check high charges.

Ms Uzoka said that most private schools “pay tangible amounts” of taxes to the government and need to recover the money through school fees and other charges.

A parent, Kalu Ukpai, lamented that some of the private schools charge exorbitant fees but employ unqualified teachers, whom they pay poor salaries.

Mr Ukpai said the issue of the high cost of education has become a serious concern, especially now that things are generally tough in the country.

In Imo, some private secondary school teachers lamented that they were being underpaid, saying that their salaries and other emoluments were not commensurate with students’ output and school fees.

Oluchukwu Ferdinand, who holds a Higher National Diploma in Education and teaches in a private secondary school, said her employer always referred to the HND/BSc dichotomy as his reason for underpaying his teaching staff.

Ms Ferdinand said that the attitude explained why the proprietor employed only HND and National Diploma holders, adding that this was affecting the teachers’ approach to their duties.

Another teacher, Uchechi Okoro, said the lack of government measures to checkmate the activities of private schools was also a factor.

She argued that changing corps members annually negatively affected the students’ performance. She called on the government not to allow inexperienced corps members to take over the core duties of teachers as assigned in the curriculum.

A head teacher, George Ojiaku, blamed the low remuneration of teachers in private schools on the government’s failure to provide adequate remuneration for teachers in public schools. Mr Ojiaku said since the government sets the standard for the private sector, “it would be difficult to expect perfection” from the latter.

The proprietress of Sound Foundation Academy, Emekuku, Owerri, Chinwendu Osuji, said the location of a school determines the fees charged, which, in turn, determines the remuneration of teachers.

(NAN)