The Education Rights
Campaign (ERC) has come across the response of the Lagos State government to
its condemnation of the N10,000 admission fee into model colleges/upgraded
colleges in the State.
In an official State
signed by Mr. Jide Lawal, the Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State
Ministry of Education and reported by Vanguard newspaper of Thursday 15 January
2015, the Lagos State government tried to defend this anti-poor admission fee.
According to the Ministry
official, "we wish to state categorically that the payment is not a new
thing as that as always been the practice for the past years. Hence, one begins
to question the motive behind the objections".
Our response simply is
that the fact that the cost of admission into model colleges/upgraded colleges
in the State has always been high does not justify its acceptability. There are
lot of unjust practices in our country, two of which are corruption and
exploitation both of which are consequence of pro-rich neo-liberal capitalist
policies, that have existed for many years and no reasonable Nigerian will
admonish that we stop hoping for change.
All we in the ERC are
trying to say is that public education can be truly free and affordable when
such burdensome fees and charges are reversed. How can the Lagos State
government claim it is implementing free education program when those who wish
to progress into model colleges/upgraded colleges have to part with N10,000?
Why is the administrative cost of external examinations at Junior Secondary
School level that high and why can't government bear some of the cost so that
working class and poor parents in Lagos can feel a little sense of relief? Even
if the government is already bearing some cost, the fact that the fee is still
as high as N10, 000 shows that government will have to bear some more.
For good measure, Mr.
Jide Lawal added: "it is pertinent to point out that the fee cannot in any
way bring hardships to parents as the screening tests into model
colleges/upgraded colleges are for parents who wish to have their children and
wards in boarding schools". This is an irresponsible and brazen statement
to say the least. In a country whose minimum wage is not more than N18, 000 per
month, an official justifying exploitative government policy in this way is
most unfortunate.
Already on the basis of
the on-going economic crisis occasioned by falling crude oil price and the
recent devaluation of the Naira, value of the income every worker, both in
formal and informal sectors, has been eroded.
Therefore we disagree that the N10, 000 admission fee cannot bring
hardship to parents. It can bring hardship and force parents to make tough
choices including considering other schools even when the model
colleges/upgraded colleges are their preferred choice for their children. Any
policy that compels people to take such tough choices is unjust, anti-poor and
unhelpful to the growth of a healthy, robust and quality education. And any
policy that allows a child's future to be bartered on the basis of ability to
afford an admission fee is inhuman and not fit for any society.
Are parents of children
and wards in Lagos schools not civil servants, professionals and artisans who
are already feeling the pangs of the economic crisis? We do hope that what the
Lagos State Ministry of Education meant is not that the model colleges/upgraded
colleges are reserved only for parents who can afford them. That is going be a
form of discriminatory education policy and to that extent unlawful. Parents
who wants their children and wards in boarding schools should not be hampered
by the cost of admission especially when that is the only form of schooling
that can meet their children's needs. Every child has the right to education,
including attending a boarding school, without discrimination.
So once again, we demand
the immediate reversal of the N10, 000 admission fee.
Hassan
Taiwo Soweto Michael Ogundele
National
Coordinator National Secretary
07033697259
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