… alleged corruption in the sector
Dapo Dawodu, chairman of the Parents’ Forum of Lagos Model Colleges has described the state government’s N100,000 per term boarding fees which amounts to N100 million for an average of 1,000 students as outrageous.
Dawodu told BusinessDay in a telephone chat, that the average number of boarding students in model colleges is 1,000, insisting that the N100,000 fee per a student in 13 weeks of a term is unacceptable to the parents’ body.
“I’m a chartered surveyor, and by training, I’m a senior mathematician, hence, I wouldn’t associate myself with anything that is unverifiable, and/or cannot be established.
“In case people don’t know the implication of N100,000 per student, it amounts to N100 million for 1,000 students. Every ideal woman would conveniently manage N35 million to feed 1,000 students in 13 weeks,” he noted.
Buttressing that the schools buy these foods in bulk, the parents’ forum chairman maintained that N35 million is adequate for feeding 1,000 students in a term because the boarding school system is not commercialised.
A breakdown of the N100 million for 1000 students in 13 weeks means every week the school will be spending over N7.7 million to feed the students.
The chartered surveyor frowned at the fact that the boarding school managers tend to erroneously compare the school feeding business with eateries, which are tailored to run on profits.
Besides, he alleged that corruptive tendencies cannot be ruled out going by recent developments where the students were underfed and looked malnourished even after making the payments to schools.
Narrating how the parents’ forum have tried to be of immense assistance to education managers in the state in making the boarding school system thrive at a purse-friendly rate, he regretted the fact that some people seem to be clogging the success.
According to Dawodu, “The issue on ground is the cost of feeding and welfare of the children in the boarding houses. N35,000 was the agreement reached in 2021 at the State House of Assembly when the Ministry of Education wanted to increase it from N25,000 we were paying and we refused.
“Nevertheless, by intervention of the Lagos State House of Assembly’s committee on education, a tripartite agreement was reached between us, the parents, ministry of education and house of assembly, with a condition that the money being paid will be run by the boarding schools management committee composed of the parents, and the school management of each of the local schools, which they never adhered to since 2021.”
Dawodu explained that Saturday, September 14, made it exactly three years that the Ministry of Education refused to implement the agreement and that both parties started the fourth year of their grand disobedience to the directive of the State House of Assembly.
However, he disclosed that the forum has always updated its analysis of this feeding arrangement, and when Jamiu Ali-Balogun, the Lagos State commissioner for basic and secondary education was appointed late last year; the parents informed him of the ugly occurrences concerning how the children were not well taken care of by the principals who were underfeeding them via non-quality foods.
“In February, we met with the commissioner with our updated feeding analysis which still made the N35,000 adequate as feeding fees, and he promised he would call us to compare notes before any increase would be affected.
But as it were, he has not called the Ministry of Education to call us so that we can compare notes, and the next thing we heard is that the fee is increased,” he explained.
He faulted the fact that while the parents were still waiting for the commissioner’s invitation to harmonise the issue, the Ministry of Education suddenly came up with their increase.
Dawodu revealed that the more worrisome to the parents was the fact that they did not say the letter came from the commissioner.
“If the letter had come from Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor of Lagos State or from any of the top echelons, would there have been such a rouse?” he asked.
Moreover, he wondered, why the a rush when it was just some days to resume. Besides, the letter came on Friday, when the students were to resume on Sunday.
“In the first instance, the Lagos State government runs a free education policy, which is inclusive of boarding house expenses. It was some years ago that the government came up with a plea because of the cash crunch, that while still maintaining the free education policy, the parents take care of the expense of feeding their children in boarding,” he said.
He further explained that parents have shown understanding in that by taking it up, and that is why the money that is not being paid into the state purse, but to the various school accounts opened by the principal of each school and solely managed by the principals.
“We all know the country we are in, that is why many of the boarding school students look malnourished. The principals hardly carry out their supervision duties very well.
The school authorities ought to have taken advantage of the huge sum we pay in advance and put in place mechanisms for bulk purchase, and maximise profits,” he said.
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