Recession: We now operate on credit, parents no longer pay fees – Private Schools

Association of Proprietors of Private Schools has said its members now operate on credit because a large percentage of parents cannot pay the fees of their children.

According her, the reason might not be unconnected with the economic recession in the country.

The organisation, which had however, instructed its members, estimated at over one million nationwide not to increase school fees because of recession, also called on the Federal Government to establish Education Bank like the Bank of Industry and Bank of Agriculture.

The President of NAPPS, Dr. Sally Adukwu-Bolujoko, said this at a press briefing on Tuesday evening as part of activities marking its national conference scheduled for Wednesday in Abuja to review the performance of private school proprietors.

She said, “Many of my good parents don’t have money to pay school fees, I have plenty letters begging me, ‘please let my child stay’. One called me this morning from Dubai, saying look, thank God they put me in this trip to Dubai. Whatever they pay me now is what I am leaning on to pay my children’s school fees.

“We insist that we should not reduce quality, we are not increasing school fees. We are bent on managing our costs. In NAPPS, we have asked every school to look inwards and manage our costs.

“My advice is stay afloat, don’t crease school fees, manage your costs. In every recession in the world, there is sack and job losses.

“We are not going to declare any school bankrupt but we have to manage our costs. Where there are too many hands in some departments and units, some people will have to go, meaning sack.”