Private schools owners in Enugu State are reeling under the government’s brutal assault on their institutions, with exorbitant taxes and draconian regulations threatening to shut down schools and deny thousands of students access to quality education. The owners claim these policies are a deliberate attempt to strangle private schools, forcing them to operate in a hostile environment.
The Issues:
- Economic Strangulation: Taxes ranging from N450,000 to N2.2 million are a death sentence for many private schools, forcing them to shut down or pass on the burden to parents.
- Dictatorial Overreach: The government’s requirement for private schools to conduct unified exams is a brazen attempt to control every aspect of education, stifling innovation and creativity.
- Harassment and Intimidation: The government’s demand for census figures from private schools is a wasteful exercise designed to harass and intimidate school owners.
- Arbitrary Closure Threats: The government’s threat to shut down unapproved private schools is a reckless and arbitrary measure that will deny thousands of students access to education.
- Callous Disregard: The government’s insistence on uploading data during the holiday period demonstrates a callous disregard for the challenges faced by private school owners.
The Consequences:
- Mass School Closures: The government’s policies will lead to mass school closures, leaving thousands of students without access to quality education.
- Job Losses: Thousands of teachers and staff will lose their jobs as private schools shut down.
- Education Crisis: The state’s education sector will face a crisis of epic proportions if private schools are unable to operate effectively.
The Solutions:
- Immediate Tax Relief: The government must immediately review and reduce taxes to make them more manageable for private school owners.
- End to Overregulation: The government must end its overregulation of private schools and allow them to operate with autonomy.
- Financial Support: The government must provide financial support to private schools to help them improve their facilities and operations.
- Moratorium on Closures: The government must impose a moratorium on school closures to allow private schools to improve without fear of reprisal.
- Dialogue and Consultation: The government must engage in genuine dialogue and consultation with private school owners to address their concerns and find mutually beneficial solutions.
- Extension of Data Upload Deadline: The government must extend the data upload deadline to a later date, after the holiday period, to allow schools to comply without disrupting their operations.
The private school owners demand that the government takes action to address the challenges facing private schools in the State .
By Ngozi Ezinwanne
