Nigerian Parents Forum on Thursday appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to prevail on the Federal Ministry of Education to reverse the over 100 per cent increment on fees paid by students in Federal Government Colleges (also known as Unity Schools).
It described the increment as arbitrary, insensitive, ill-timed and inconsistent with President Tinubu’s promise of welfare programmes to help parents cope with the economic challenges posed by fuel subsidy removal in the country.
In a statement, the forum’s National Coordinator, Monday Eze decried the lack of qualified teachers, hostels, classrooms, science and technical workshops in the six federal science and technical colleges established in the six geopolitical zones in 2021.
He charged the new administration to provide those essential amenities for the use of the colleges.
Eze asked the Federal Government to investigate allegations of extortion of money and materials from students under the guise of class and hostel levies by the management of the schools.
According to him, demand for office equipment and household utensils from students on a termly basis is also trending in the Federal Government colleges.
“Last term, the total sum of every student’s fee was N30,500.00 only. The fees have been increased to N72,000 per student. This is over 100 per cent increment”.
