The Nigerian education sector, particularly the private school system, has become a growing burden for many parents, sparking concerns about the apparent lack of effective oversight by the government and relevant regulatory bodies. The sector seems to have become an avenue for unchecked exploitation, with schools imposing exorbitant fees and arbitrary charges on parents, many of whom are left with no choice but to comply.
From nursery to secondary school, parents are increasingly forced to prioritize school-related expenses over other essential needs and long-term savings. The fees, beyond standard tuition, now include costs for uniforms, sportswear, special T-shirts for Wednesdays, social club fees, French and music classes, phonics sessions, and more. The list seems endless, with many parents barely able to keep up.
Tuition fees, the most significant of these costs, fluctuate drastically from term to term, with little consideration for the financial strain parents endure. Private schools often hike their fees at will, leaving families scrambling to meet these demands. By the third week of a new term, many schools resort to locking out students whose parents are unable to pay the full fees. These students miss valuable class time, and once the fees are eventually paid, there is no opportunity to catch up on missed lessons.
The sale of schoolbooks has become another point of contention. Schools now collaborate with specific authors, forcing parents to purchase these books directly from the schools at inflated prices. Worse still, parents are denied access to the book lists, preventing them from sourcing the materials elsewhere at more affordable rates. Instead, the total cost of books—along with exercise books and writing materials—is simply added to the school’s termly newsletter and issued alongside report cards.
A concerning trend in modern textbooks compounds the financial strain. Many are designed with spaces for students to write answers, making them unusable for siblings in subsequent years. This system ensures that parents must repurchase new textbooks each year, creating an unsustainable cycle of waste and expense. Gone are the days when multiple children in a family could share textbooks, passing them down from one sibling to the next.
In a country that gained independence over 60 years ago, such exploitation within the education sector is disheartening. Nigeria, once home to world-class educationists, engineers, medical professionals, and other intellectuals, now struggles to maintain the standards necessary for an equitable education system. The lack of government funding for public schools and universities, combined with unchecked corruption within regulatory bodies, has given private school owners free rein to exploit parents without consequences.
The Nigerian government itself contributes to the problem by overburdening its citizens with high taxes and levies, leaving them vulnerable to further exploitation by private businesses. The education system is just one area where this exploitation is evident, but its impact is felt acutely by millions of families across the country.
This neglect has also led to a decline in educational quality. Many graduates emerge from Nigerian universities with questionable degrees, while secondary school students engage in widespread examination malpractice. In some cases, school authorities actively participate in these practices, eager to justify the high fees they charge. Parents, desperate to see their investment in education pay off, often resort to illegal means to ensure their children succeed in national examinations.
To reverse this disturbing trend, the Nigerian government must take immediate action to reform the education sector. Stronger regulation of private schools is essential, and public schools must receive adequate funding to compete. Above all, a cultural shift is needed—one that places value on education as a public good, not a business venture. Only then can Nigeria’s education system truly serve its people.
