Following the controversy that trailed the increment of boarding fees for secondary schools in Lagos to N50, 000, the State Government has slashed the fee to N35,000 per term, as proposed by the parents of the students across the state.
It said that the decision to slash the tuition fee to N35,000 in model colleges was to ensure restoration of peace and harmony to the learning institutions across the state.
The state had proposed that since it would spend an average of N125,000 on each student per term, the parents should pay N50,000, while the government would best the N75,000 per student.
After the announcement, the parent resisted the increment with different demonstrations and demanded that the state government slashes the fee to N35,000 per student, considering the economic challenges across the country.
To resolve the face-off between the government and parents, the State House of Assembly waded in and convened a meeting between the parties at the Assembly Complex yesterday, where the Ministry of Education approved the new tuition fee.
At the meeting convened by the Chairman of the House Committee on education, Ganiyu Okanlawon, said that the new boarding fees would be paid for two terms, after which the state would do a downward or upward review of the fees, depending on the outcome of the experiment.
“When this matter got to the House, the Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, mandated the committee on education to look into the matter with a view to resolving it amicably and that is what we have done today. After much deliberations, we have resolved that the sum of N35,000 proposed by the parents be adopted as the decision of the house and all the stakeholders.
“This proposed sum will run for a period of two terms, to determine its workability, after which a review will be done, either upward or downward. During the two terms, the parents’ forum shall not interfere with the running of the boarding system in order to have a true outcome of the experiment and no additional financial burden should be put on the parents by the forum,” he said.
Okanlawon added that the menu list of the school should be reviewed to include all essential nutrients needed for growth and development for the students which should include milk and fruits.
The committee advised the schools to localise their menu list, taking into consideration the seasonal food that was readily available within the locality of the school.
It was also resolved that two members of the parents’ forum be included in the running of the boarding house of each school, in order to ensure transparency and accountability.
Also speaking, Commissioner for Education, Folasade Adefisayo, expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the meeting, while thanking the parents for their cooperation.
“I thank the parents for their cooperation, the leadership of the House of Assembly, and the committee on education and other stakeholders for this amicable resolution,” the commissioner said.
Addressing newsmen after the meeting, the Chairman of the parents’ forum, Dapo Dawodu, commended the lawmakers for an amicable resolution of the matter, which he said was capable of snowballing into a crisis.
“This has been a journey of two months and a half but like a two years journey, now that we have arrived at a resolution of N35,000, this is not only good for the parents but for the children also. We thank the Lagos State House of Assembly, the house that is above the common standard of excellence,” he said.
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