Parents beg FG, seek review of increase in school fees

<p>A parent urged government to divert funds removed from fuel subsidy and other sources to take care of the education sector as this remained the only legacy it could give the people.</p>, <span>Bola Tinubu</span>, <h2>More concerned parents of Unity College students in the country have called on the Federal Government to revisit the sudden increase in fees for their children, in a bid to make education accessible to all.</h2>, <p>The parents made the call in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos.</p>, <p>The Federal Government, through a circular issued to principals of unity schools across the country and sighted by NAN, increased the fees for new students from N45,000 to N100,000.</p>, <p>Mitchelle Uzor, a small business owner, told NAN that there was no way children of low income earners could afford such bills, considering the current economic reality in the country.</p>, <p>According to her, the unity schools remain the last hope for the masses in acquiring standard education, without necessarily breaking the banks.</p>, <p>She said news on the increase was a blow to her, as she had been saving and preparing for her son, who just graduated from primary school and was ready to gain admission in one of the colleges in Lagos.</p>, <p>“I really don’t know what to do now. I am in a state of confusion because I can not afford that kind of money.</p>, <p>“Times are already hard ordinarily. We can barely feed properly and yet we are faced with this kind of news.</p>, <p>“A situation whereby there is no more hope for access to good public schools where we can still find quality education for our children is unacceptable.</p>, <p>“As Nigerians the only thing that we can gain as proud citizens of this country should be quality education but as we are going, all that seems to fizzle out with all these developments.</p>, <p>“It is not what we expected at this time,” she said.</p>, <p>Funmilayo Olubiyo, a civil servant, decried the development and called for a review of the fees.