January 31 is just nine days away. It is the deadline for registration for the May/June 2015 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). However, some private schools risk not registering their SS3 pupils for the examination for the second year running because of a tax impasse between the Cross River State government and school owners. NICHOLAS KALU reports the row, which also involves the Calabar Zonal office of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the state Internal Revenue Service.
Since Cross River State lost Bakassi to Cameroun and consequently, its oil wells to Akwa Ibom State, thereby stripping it of its oil producing state status and attendant allocation from the Federal Government, it has employed various means to make ends meet in the face of lean resources.
One of such means is an aggressive drive to increase its internally generated revenue (IGR) through taxes. Not a few times has the revenue collecting agency been at loggerheads with various businesses in the state over hike in levies and taxes. The government, since the loss of its oil producing status, has consistently lamented economic hardship.
The conflict now seems to have crept into the education sector as proprietors of private schools are lamenting excessive taxation, saying its crippling effects would adversely affect the pupils.
The proprietors alleged that the government is hindering them from registering their candidates for the 2015 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) except they pay the exorbitant rates. Also, they alleged that the government was stopping them from registering new pupils except their parents presented tax clearance certificates of up to three years.
Last week, to register their displeasure, the Cross River State chapter of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) marched to the Calabar zonal office of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to protest the alleged collusion between the state government and the examining body not to register private schools for the examination.
Led by their president, Mrs Offiong Bassey, they protested the arbitrary increase of annual renewal levy and imposition of multiple taxes by the Ministry of Education on private schools.
Their grouse was that the ministry arbitrarily increased the levy from N10, 000 to N100, 000 for primary schools and N200,000 for secondary schools in 2010, which was enforced for the first time last year.
However, Mrs Bassey said remitting the levy to government became problematic because the government demanded that the schools pay the arrears from 2010. As a result, the amount to be paid by some schools stands between N600,000 and N1.2 million.
To compel the schools to pay, Mrs Bassey said the ministry tied it to a clearance they had to obtain before they could register their candidates for the WASSCE.
“We were forced to pay last year. The commissioner went and placed embargo at WAEC against us, that before WAEC would collect our entries, we should pass through the Ministry of Education and clear ourselves. That clearance means when you pay the money to them, they give you clearance to WAEC for enrolment,” she said.
The NAPPS Chairperson, who is also the proprietress of The Royal Integrated College, Calabar, said many schools that could not raise the funds last year were forced to merge. Unfortunately, schools with high number of candidates were forced to register with public schools and their results have not been released.
She said: “So many schools could not pay. Also so many schools had to merge, particularly schools that charge very low tuition. Big schools that collect like N80, 000 per child for school fees did not have any problem, but schools that charge like N6, 000 to N10, 000 could not pay.
“Those that could not afford had to merge. So, you see a school harbouring four or five schools and some schools that had high population had to return to public schools. They sent their candidates to public schools and they were accepted. You know very well that the result of WASSCE in Cross River was not released for the public schools since last August. Up till now, no single child that wrote the examination in public schools has received his result because the Ministry of Education owes WAEC. Those in private schools that enrolled their candidates in public schools had problems. Parents kept going to the schools to demand for their children’s results. Some of these children made JAMB cut off point, but could not proceed.”
Mrs Bassey accused the state government of insensitivity in the management of the tax issue. She said as a result, many proprietors suffered untold hardship, with one locked up by the police.
She continued: “When we went to Ministry of Education to get the clearance, some, who could not afford N800, 000 pleaded. The only relief they gave us was that we paid half and then used our school letterhead to write when we would pay the balance within the year. That was how so many schools were able to pay. Some schools had to sell their property. A particular proprietor had to sell a portion of his land.
“Another proprietor because his school population was high, could not merge with other schools. No school had the capacity to absorb his candidates and that was how the problem lingered until WAEC closed entry. Even when he refunded the money, parents used police to arrest him. He was detained because the children did not write the exam.”
With the deadline for May/June 2015 WASSCE registration only nine days away, Mrs Bassey said proprietors are jittery as the state government is determined to collect what is left of the debt from last year and has employed the same tactics. The proprietors are also accusing WAEC of conniving with the government to deny candidates of their right to education.
“This year, it is about time and there is another WAEC registration ending on January 31 and the state government is demanding for the balance of money from last year and the new one for this year. So, some schools have to pay N400,000, N600,000, up to N1.2 million depending on the agreement you had with them.
“They went once again to ask that WAEC should not allow us to enrol until the money is cleared. We are asking WAEC whether they are now a revenue collector for the Ministry of Education. Are you no longer an examination body that covers West African countries? Why do you single out Cross River State? Is it that children in Cross River State do not have the right to education, which is their fundamental human right? At the end of this they have to be tested through exam? What is your problem with us WAEC?,” she asked.
As if this was not enough, Mrs Bassey said the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has also been locking up schools and seizing school buses with children in them because of tax infringement.
“This same Ministry of Education now went through IRS and sent all of us letters that before we can enrol students into our various schools, even nursery and primary, we must ask the parents for their tax clearance certificate for three years. And we said Ah! in this system? Where a child has the right to education, a fundamental human right! And you are saying that the punishment of a parent for not paying tax should be meted on the child, depriving that child from going to school! But all we said, fell on deaf ears. The IRS went with padlocks and chains to seal up schools of those who could not show their renewal levy. They locked up schools with peoples’ children inside. They also went ahead to use their agents to hijack school buses on the roads with peoples’ children inside – nursery and primary school children. They hijacked the buses and went to their station with children inside. It is a barbaric way of doing things.
“Schools were issued queries for non-payment of the imposed levy. We are again at a crossroad; tied to a stake. We are passing through intimidation and extortion from both the Ministry of Education and the Internal Revenue Service of Cross River State,” she said.
Proprietor of Aunty Patience Nursery and Primary School, in Calabar South, Elder Edet Obot, described the increment in levy from N10,000 to N100,000 and N200,000 as a huge burden on schools and a big departure from Duke’s administration.
He said: “The proprietors have been trying their best to bear with the government of the day. During the tenure of Donald Duke in 2005, the commissioner then tried to increase renewal fees from N5, 000 to N20, 000. There was a minor protest and we appealed to the governor and he immediately called us and asked us how much we would be able to pay because he did not want anything that would hamper the educational development in the state. We said we could increase it by 100 per cent. That is how we started paying N10, 000. We paid it up to 2010 when the current commissioner increased it to N100, 000 and N200, 000 for primary and secondary schools respectively. The school system has been under serious contention because proprietors have not been able to manage the situation. There are schools in Calabar-South where it is difficult for parents to pay fees let alone such huge taxes,” he said.
Obot added that past attempts to meet with the Commissioner for Education, Prof Offiong E. Offiong, failed.
He continued: “We have tried our best to meet the commissioner to no avail. He has refused to give us audience. The governor, I am sure, is not aware of the plight of private schools. Imagine in a state that is educationally disadvantaged, how can people use chains and keys to lock the gates, while other states are driving children into the schools?”
Obot also accused WAEC of complicity in the matter.
“It is a difficult situation and we believe that the government even at the federal level would interfere because presently if you look at it everybody is now a revenue collector. If you want to register for common entrance examination, tax clearance has to be collected from the parents. And you go to register for WAEC, they tell WAEC not to register until proprietors show evidence of paying N800, 000 or N1.2 million as the case may be. WAEC complies and we are beginning to think whether this is the real WAEC or not. Because the WAEC that we know is supposed to be a completely independent body that is controlling and conducting education for West Africa and not Cross River. They have reduced their activities to revenue collection, where you go to register your child and they ask you whether you have brought receipts from the ministry and all that.
“We know that the World Bank, UNESCO and other international organisations are sending things to boost education. Ask me, upon all these taxes, has any private school benefitted from all these things? They say they send these items to an international child, so, we ask whether the international child is found only in public schools. So we are in a desperate situation because it appears government does not want the schools to exist,” Obot said.
Also speaking, Mrs Philomena Bassey, Proprietor of Unique School, Calabar, said the pupils are the biggest victims of the saga.
“We feel so bad because it is an infringement on the right of the children. They are not even punishing the proprietors per se, but the children. I don’t know what kind of tax law there is in this country that from paying N10, 000 you will go ahead to pay N200, 000 and N100, 000, which is 2000 and 1000 per cent increase. No one should feel good about it because the children are the ones that are affected.
“It is an infringement on their rights as citizens. We are not happy about it. All well-meaning Nigerians and lovers of education should stop this ugly trend in the state. This is the state in country that people pay tax through their nose because of bad government. It is not done anywhere. People collect tax everywhere, but in Cross River State it is a menace and is driving people away. We have raw materials here for their well-being, but it ends inside people’s pocket,” she said.
Reacting to the issues, Commissioner for Education, Prof Offiong, said private schools must operate according to laid down rules and regulations. He added that many are complaining because they do not want to pay taxes.
He said: “First and foremost, it is the duty of the government to regulate the operation of private schools. It is incumbent on the private schools to make their schools known to government by way of registration and renewal of registration. And by this, it means government has a role to play. Once we have it registered in our books, they are not operating free. They are collecting fees from the students and part of that fees they also have to pay tax and pay registration.
“The tax they are paying is PAYE, which of course everyone pays, and then the registration. What they were paying before, in fact, a long time ago, they were paying N10, 000 and N5, 000 for secondary and primary schools. And that was just like one twentieth of what the child pays as school fees.
“Now we said for secondary schools it has to be N200, 000 and primary schools N100, 000. And that has been on in the last four to five years. Many of the private schools have paid up to date. But there are some who have refused to pay and there are some who feel they should run a private school and not pay tax to government. Yet, they would make money from it. And we said no. They had gone to the court too, but the matter was struck out. So, we said come back and settle this matter.
“Last year I gave many of them waivers and said if you are owing N800, 000 we can allow you to pay N400, 000 then pay the remaining later. This was for people owing over the years. And some of them still do not want to pay a kobo. Some of them also said they own schools in rural areas, but the thing is, government has standardised schools. There is nothing like rural or urban schools. We have made this clear to the general public over and over that a child in the rural area does not deserve a worse education that those in the urban. So, education must be same. If you want to establish a school, whether it is in the rural area, it has to be of standard and I know there would be lot of leverage in opening schools in what people call rural areas. They have a lot of land and it is cheap, so they should take advantage of that and establish a standard school. If you want a business venture where you make money and do not pay tax, well then it means you do not have what it takes to run a school. That is our position.”
Offiong said schools that have complied are enjoying various programmes by the government. He also said the levy can only be reduced by Governor Liyel Imoke.
“We are not stopping them from registering. All the legitimate private schools that have been registered with us, are given all the cooperation. Not just registration in WAEC, but we also invite them for a lot of activities sponsored by the government. So my appeal to them is that they should continue to discuss with us and pay. They say the fees were too high and we said it was beyond the Ministry. They can appeal to the Governor as a body. I don’t know if they have done so, but I think that would have been the legitimate thing to do. But for you to expect that you will operate a school and not pay the specified registration and renewal to government is something any government would not accept,” he said.
Though Offiong admitted that the IRS locked up schools and seized school buses, he said it was not a widespread action.
He said: “In the course of monitoring of schools, I have seen one or two, not more than that, which were sealed and I asked IRS and they said those schools were not reemitting the PAYE tax, which they deduct every month from their teachers and workers and that is a serious crime. People, who work and earn income, pay tax and you the employer of labour refuses to remit it to government. So, it is a crime. Well if there are other things the IRS has done, I think basically it is line with the law. There is also an avenue to seek redress if they are not too happy with what IRS has done. There are legitimate ways to do so,” he said.
On the schools not being allowed to admit pupils without their parents showing evidence of tax clearance for up to three years, he said: “It is incumbent on every adult to pay tax. So, the issue of perhaps demanding for evidence of payment of tax from parents or guardians is just conventional So, are the private schools saying people should not pay tax?”
Defending IRS’ role in the impasse, Mr Mike Igbo, Head of Communications, Cross River State IRS, debunked the claims of the proprietors that pupils were locked up in schools and buses were seized.
He said: “The impression that the state is not tax friendly is not true. In many other states they employ thugs, but here we are very civilised on how we go about getting revenue. Our members of staff are graduates and some even have Masters’ degrees. We have an image as a tourism destination and a peace loving state and we employ global best practises in our job.
“We don’t threaten people. We actually wrote to them and gave them adequate notice to clear their liabilities, which run up to two or three years in some cases. The schools were closed last year due to their inability to clear their liabilities of PAYE and renewal fee. Everybody is supposed to pay tax, whether it is a private school or not.
“We do not lock up students in schools. We don’t just wake up and go and lock schools. Like I said, we write them and give them adequate time to come to the office and sort themselves out. But they do not comply. We always give them notice. We lock up the schools so that they will pay.”
Contrary to the proprietors’ claims, Igbo, however, claimed that the presentation of tax clearance by parents has not been implemented yet.
A parent (names withheld) whose child attends a school that could not meet up with the payment of required levy, accused the government of being insensitive to the plight of the children. The source said whatever issues they have does not have to affect the education of their wards.
However, another parent, who gave his name as Charles, said there was nothing wrong in asking the schools to live up to their financial obligations. While he advocated that measures be taken against those who do not want to comply, he is still worried that care should be taken on how it affects the children.
When contacted, the Head, Public Affairs Unit, WAEC Headquarters in Yaba, Lagos, Mr Yusuf Ari, said he was not aware of the Cross River case. He said he had forwarded The Nation’s query to the Calabar Zonal WAEC Co-ordinator for answers. The response did not come as at the time of filing this report.
