The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) says there is no increment in school fees in public boarding schools in the federal capital.
Dr. Danlami Hayyo, Mandate Secretary, Education Secretariat, FCTA, clarified this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday.
NAN recalls that some parents had claimed that the FCT Administration increased school fees for students in FCT public boarding schools.
They claimed that the fee was increased from between N29,000 and 32,000 to N47,000, a development they claimed had forced some parents to withdraw their children from boarding schools to day schools.
Reacting, Hayyo said, “This is not true; this is not true.
“The Minister of FCT, Mr. Nyesom Wike, had even approved the increase in the feeding allowances for boarding schools due to the rising cost of food items.
“Look at the situation: how much has a bag of rice cost in the last two years, and how much is a bag of rice currently? He asked.”
The mandate secretary also denied the claim that some parents have withdrawn their children from public boarding schools in the FCT.
According to him, FCT public boarding schools are positioned to provide quality education at an affordable cost and within the means of parents.
“I don’t think there is someone who will remove his children or his son from public school as a result of the feeding cost; I doubt much.”
He added that the quality of education in public schools was very encouraging, stressing that the best student in the 2023 West African Examination Council was from a public school.
He also said that students from public schools won more trophies from debates, quizzes, and other academic and sports competitions in 2023 than from private schools.
“In fact, in Abuja, so many parents are removing their children from private schools to public schools because of the quality of education the public schools provide.
“There is a high number of enrolments in public schools in Abuja currently, and we are trying to bridge the infrastructural gap to accommodate more pupils and students,” he said.
Hayyo said that FCTA has concluded plans to inaugurate the recently rehabilitated schools, while plans are underway for the construction of new ones.
NAN recalls that the mandate secretary had on Jan. 30 announced Wike’s approval of N30.9 billion for massive public school rehabilitation projects in the federal capital. (NAN)
