From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
Schools resumed for the new session in Kano State a few weeks ago. For many private schools, the new academic year offers an opportunity to review their fees. However, some of the adjustments have neither gone well with the parents nor with the regulating body.
This is the script playing out between Prime College, Kano, and Kano State Private and Voluntary Institutions Board (KSPVIB), an agency assigned by government to collect taxes and regulate the overall conduct of private schools.
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Background
A few days back, the board announced the closure of about six private schools for alleged violation of the operational guidelines. The closure was backed with a magisterial court order.
While some private schools were shut down for alleged arbitrary adjustment of fees for the current academic year, others were shut for lack of operational approval.
Executive secretary, KSPVIB, Baba Umar, told Daily Sun that the affected schools included Prime College, Alu Avenue; Darul Ulum, Hotoro; Gwani Dan Zarga College, Kofar Waika; Auwa Academy, Sumaila; Dano Memorial College, Gani; and Unity Academy, Wudil: “It’s not our wish and aspiration to go to court. But whoever thinks he’s above the law, we will take that person to court. This is our stand.
“Government has clearly spelt out the procedure to review their school fees. The guideline is to avoid a situation where private schools arbitrarily increase or adjust their tuition without formal approval.
“Any private school seeking to adjust fees must convene Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) meetings where they will propose a fee hike. Such a meeting must include parents, teachers and government representatives. The adjustment must be approved by a two-thirds majority of the PTA and cleared by the state’s regulatory board before the new fees will be implemented.
“Only last year, Prime College, Kano, adjusted fees by N400,000. This academic year, it adjusted fees by an additional N600,000, bringing its total fees for a regular student to slightly over N2 million per year.
“As far as the board is concerned, this increment is too much on the part of the parents of the school. It is for this reason that we secured an order halting the implementation of the new fees structure. There are on-going efforts to enter into an out-of-court settlement. The school’s management approached the board to resolve the dispute amicably.
“The resolution reached included a reversal to the old school fees, establishment of PTA and an agreement with aggrieved parents on a benchmark for future fee adjustments.”
He claimed that Prime College had also committed itself to following due process whenever it intended to increase tuition, in line with KSPVIB regulations: “As such, I have given them a seven-day grace period to convene a meeting with the PTA to reach an amicable settlement. Therefore, Prime College will resume academic activities on Monday, October 22, 2025.”
However, a member of the interim PTA committee who begged not to be named said the hiked fees were yet to be adjusted as of Wednesday: “They said a majority of the parents had already paid the adjusted fees. We have requested that the difference be brought over to next year’s fees. But that has not been implemented, to the best of my knowledge.
“I am a parent and my child is in Primary One. I am expected to pay N1.8 million, almost a 100 per cent adjustment for a child in Primary One. Please, tell me, is that reasonable?”
She commended the board for its timely intervention, saying, the management of the school has been very un-cooperative to the members of the interim PTA board set up by the board as a result of which some members of the board had tendered their resignation letters.
Fresh court order
Chief Magistrate’s Court, Gyadi Gyadi, presided over by Fauziyya Sheshe, Monday, vacated the order closing Prime College, directing its reopening. The judge noted that the decision to vacate the order was based on an earlier application by the state’s counsel and her discretion.
The school’s legal team, which appeared before the court on Monday, had gone with the intention of challenging the legal propriety of the order issued against the school
Prime College’s response
According to an earlier statement by the college, over 94 of parents had complied with the new rates, adding, however, that fewer than 20 parents rejected the increment, labelling it “exploitative” and proceeding to petition the board.
The management insisted that flexible payment plans were made available to parents, assuring them that no child would be denied education for inability to pay. It claimed that their earlier efforts to engage the board were met with “abuse, denigration and public embarrassment.”
The post Kano: Govt, private schools at loggerheads over fees hike appeared first on The Sun Nigeria.
