Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has criticized the recent increases in school fees by the federal and Lagos state governments, calling the move illegal.
According to Vanguard, the federal government raised fees for Unity Schools from N45,000 to N100,000 per term in July 2023, an increase of over 120%. Similarly, the Lagos State government recently announced that fees for state-owned boarding schools have risen to N100,000 from the previous N35,000.
Falana condemned the increases over the weekend, stating that they violate the Child’s Rights Act and Lagos State Child’s Rights Law.
He expressed concern that with the new fees surpassing the minimum wage of N70,000, “a worker can no longer afford to sponsor even one child in either Unity Schools or any secondary school in Lagos State.” Falana vowed to challenge these decisions in the appropriate High Courts.
Falana wrote, “The federal government has increased fees payable in all unity schools from N45,000 to N100,000 per term. Thus, the fee payable per annum is N300,000 per student.
“Similarly, the Lagos State Government has fixed fees payable in all secondary schools at N100,000 per term or N300,000 per annum by every student.
“At N70,000 minimum wage, the salary of a worker per term of 4 months is N280,000. The implication is that a worker can no longer sponsor even one child either in the Unity School or any secondary school in Lagos State.
“However, under the Child’s Rights Act and Lagos State Child’s Rights Law, every child is entitled to free & compulsory education from primary school to junior secondary school. To that extent, the imposition of N100,000 Fee on students in junior secondary schools in Unity Schools and secondary schools Lagos State is illegal.
“In view of the clear provisions of the Child’s Rights Laws applicable in all states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, the illegal imposition of prohibitive fees on junior secondary school students will be challenged in the appropriate High Courts.
“Meanwhile, on July 10, 2024, the Executive Secretary of Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Dr. Hamid Bobboyi revealed that over N45.7 billion matching grant to state governments for the implementation of Universal Basic Education (UBE) between 2020 and 2023 has not been accessed by many states governments.”
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