Success Adegor, the seven-year-old Primary 3 pupil whose outburst in Sapele, is now talk of the town, has sparked an instant revolution in Delta State’s education sector. BOLAJI OGUNDELE and AIWERIE OKUNGBOWA examine the questions being asked about the management of primary and secondary education in the state, especially as it concerns the government’s free education policy.
Success Adegor, the seven-year-old girl from Sapele who set the social media ablaze as she gave vent to her anger at being sent away from school for not paying N900 examination fees, has no worries at present. The video posted by Stephanie Idolor on Instagram, attracted celebrities, politicians and other well-wishers who came to the girl’s rescue and offered her money and scholarship up to university level.
However, the 28-second video raised some pertinent issues even after Success has been settled.
One of such issues is the illegal levy collection in state-run educational institutions; another is the deplorable state of her school, Okotie-Eboh Primary School 1 and other public schools.
How free is Delta ’s free education?
The Delta State government, like many others across the country, runs free education policy at primary and secondary school levels in government-owned schools.
The pupils do not pay tuition to attend school. However, the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Dr Chiedu Ebie, said though education was free, there were approved levies for consumables (N100) and sports (N750). Any other levy, he said, was illegal.
“We operate free education in Delta State. However, we discovered overtime that some school heads take the law into their hands by imposing illegal levies. We have battled this in the last three and half years of this administration. We have had school heads suspended and demoted. This may well be another case of a school head taking laws into her hands and imposing levies that ought not to be imposed on the students. We have what we referred to as ‘approved levy’ in our schools. It is issued by the ministry (Education). Approved levy is N100 for consumables and no school head has the right to collect above N100. Also, for sports wears because of inter-house sports and other sporting activities, we have a flat rate of N750. It’s clearly specified and clearly defined. In this case, I understand that it was exam levy of N800 and a levy for a book of N1,000 and another one for N300.
Success was sent away from school for not paying examination levy of N900. Her mother, Mrs Vera Adegor, said it was not the first time she would be sent home for failing to pay for one thing or the other.
Findings by The Nation revealed that parents in many public schools pay levies apart from the two stipulated by Dr Ebie.
Mr. Sunday Nwanyinmike, a tricycle driver, has three daughters at Hussey College, Warri, where he pays lesson fee, an unidentified levy called NSS, Identity Card and others.
He said: “We are paying a lot of money without receipt, which I am very angry about. They call one NSS and I pay N2,500 on that one for each person. There is also another one they call lesson fee, for which I have to pay N500 and it is not like they are teaching them; it is just to keep them there.There is another N800 they collected recently. They said it is for ID card for the one writing WASC.
“There is another one I paid recently. It was N750 and I paid for two of my daughters. I paid N1,500 and there is none of them we got receipt for. They said if they asked the teachers, the teachers would tell them there is no receipt.
“For the NSS, we pay that one per session. I asked for the meaning, but they couldn’t tell me and I’ve asked my children to ask their teacher for the meaning. They said it is the money they are using for past footballers, like those who have passed out and are unable to take care of themselves, as a matter of fact, I can’t understand what they mean. The one of N750 is every term, while the lesson’s levy is every month; they collect N500 every month.”
Mr. Blessing Ikuku has children in Dom Domingos College, Warri. He said they pay for electricity and the like.
“Sometimes they may say it is electricity or NEPA fee. If it is not NEPA fee, it will be inter- house sports, if not inter-house sports, it will be PTA, if not PTA, it will be another thing. Like this session, we have had to pay for inter-house sports and we paid N2,500. Last year, we paid for PTA and other levies. I can’t remember the amount we paid last year again because they didn’t give us receipt, they just said it was PTA and I gave the children the money.
“We also pay N50 light bill for each student, which is supposed to be every month, but they have not asked for that one in the last two months because it seems like there has not been light.”
Another parent, Mr Gabriel Ojiko, a member of Tsekelewu (Polobubo) community in Warri North Council Area, said his children attend Ogonoma Model Primary School, Tsekelewu, where parents pay so the school could employ more teachers.
“In Ogonoma Model Primary School, children do pay school fees; they pay N950 per term and N500 for examinations. The N950 goes to the teachers because it is for PTA. They do not have sufficient teachers, as a matter of fact, I pay one of the community teachers. I had to commit to being responsible for the salary because the Headmaster complained to me that the school is not adequately staffed. I think they have only about three teachers on government’s pay roll, which cannot go round the entire school. So as one of the community leaders, after we had put our heads together, we decided on PTA, which should be going for the payment of the teachers.”
Despite the suspension of the Head Teacher of Okotie Eboh Primary School 1 over illegal levies, parents said teachers in their schools were still demanding levies.
Mrs Chinonso Oghenekevwe, a house wife in Sapele, said she still paid N1,000 for her son for examination fees last Friday.
“My two kids are in Abbot Primary School, a government school in Sapele. We pay all kinds of levies and even after Success issue, they did not stop collecting cash from us, even last week Friday, they sent my son to me that if I did not pay the examinations fee, they would drive him from school, I had to look for the money for them.
“Let the government come to our aid, we are tired of having to pay for this and pay for that. The school is not free and if you calculate how much we are paying, you will find out it is even more than private school. Let them help us. If you say school is free then, let it be free,” she said.
Ezekiel Etinagbedia, a sign writer in Sapele, said he had thought the Success saga would check illegal fee collection at his son’s school but it did not.
“I have a son in Orodje Secondary School, Sapele. When the Success Adegor story broke out, we all heaved a sigh of relief, thinking they would stop, but as I speak to you, they are still collecting. They have not stopped. Last week, my son demanded for N3,000 for another levy he said was for vigilante, examination levies and chairs and I have paid. Despite the suspension of the Head Teacher of Okotie-Eboh Primary School, Sapele, they are still collecting illegal fees from the children in schools,” he said.
Etinagbedia wondered whether the fee collection was because the government does not fund the running of the schools.
“Sometimes we tend to blame the teachers for these collections, but the truth is; is the government providing subventions to run these schools? So as far as the school is not provided for, this kind of issue will continue to rear its ugly head and the illegal collections will continue to go on,” he said.
Dr Ebie said Delta State government provides between N20,000-N100,000 as subvention for schools depending on their size and nature.
He told The Nation that while the local government areas were responsible for funding primary education through the UBEC Act via local council secretaries, school subventions at secondary level was solely the responsibility of State government.
To ensure regular payments of school subventions, Ebie said his ministry during budget review canvassed for subventions to schools be de-classified from non- regular subvention to regular subvention sub-heads.
Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Delta State Wing, Mr Titus Okotie-Eboh, said the government was not providing enough funds for school heads to run the schools. He added that what the government claims to pay as subvention does not get to the schools on time.
He said: “The issue of subvention is not so much as the amount given to school heads; the real issue is irregular and late release of subvention. It is not all school heads that have the capacity to get loans pending when government finally releases funding.”
He said due to scarce resources and competing needs state governments nationwide are unable to meet all its financial obligations.
Collection of illegal fees
Following Success’ viral video, Mrs. Vero Igbigwe, the Head Teacher of Okotie-Eboh Primary School 1, Sapele, was suspended. Dr Ebie said she would appear before a panel of inquiry inaugurated on Tuesday. He said she would be given fair hearing.
“There is a suspension on the head teacher pending the outcome of the panel of inquiry which will be inaugurated today. Everyone has a right to fair hearing and we will follow due process. The reason for the suspension stems from the video that went viral about seven- year -old sent home from school over unpaid levy.It is obvious that some illegal levies were being charged by the school. She is the head of the school so the buck stops on her table,” he said.
The NUT Chair, Okotie-Eboh declined comment on Mrs Igbigwe’s suspension. He urged patience as stakeholders await the outcome of the probe panel.
However, the NUT Chairman, Warri South Council Area, Confidence Ikuejawa, said Mrs Igbigwe could not have acted alone. He called on all guilty parties in the illegal fee collection saga to be punished.
“All the parties involved should be brought to book. The woman should not be dealt with in isolation because it was collaboration. The Ministry of Education is involved, the management of the school authority is involved; the Local Educational Authority is involved. You see the parties involved, when you see the way they design the money, everybody has his own part.
“So, if they want to bring that woman to book, all parties involved should be brought to book. The woman should not be dealt with in isolation because she didn’t act on her own. The woman did not even have the right to or power to collect money without taking directive from some quarters,” he said.
Public schools and poor facilities
The outcry against the dilapidated state of the Okotie-Eboh Primary School 1 has been much. The school buildings which have many of the roofs in various state of disrepair and decrepit classrooms has been in use for over six decades.
The back of one of the buildings is even water-logged.
Nevertheless, the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education defended Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s administration, saying it places premium on education and was not behind in payment of counter part funds to the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).
“In line with the Universal Basic Education Law, the state government has paid its counterpart funds of about N6 billion from 2013 to 2017 which has enabled it attract about N13 billion to fund education in the state.
“In Delta, we have a total of 1,125 Nursery and Primary, 465 secondary and six technical schools.
“To enhance access to education and in consonance with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) four, the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa-led administration established 46 new schools made up of 12 primary and 34 secondary schools,” he said.
Ebie added that the funds had been deployed towards infrastructural development, curriculum development, teachers training, school sports development among others.
He said Okotie-Eboh Primary School 11 was currently being renovated following the contract awarded on November 29, 2018. He said with the viral video, the education ministry would fast track renovation work on both Okotie-Eboh Primary Schools 1 and 11.
“I am looking at the positives of the video. One of it is that we need to expedite action on the second phase of Okotie-Eboh School 1 which is the other half of the school. We are working on that because we have started work on it. Instead of waiting for Okotie-Eboh 11 to be completed we are fast tracking the execution of both schools,” he said.
He appealed for support from the private sector to collaborate with government in the development of education in the state, adding that though the burden of funding free education was huge and Delta State would not renege on its promise to providing free qualitative education.
Ikuejawa testified to the government’s effort towards infrastructural development of schools in the state.
He said: “Let me give kudos to the Delta State government to a large extent. When it comes to infrastructure in schools they’re trying, but they need to do more. What they’re doing is not yet enough, but they have tried. (But) I want to say something, 90 per cent of the contractors they are using to build schools in Delta state are doing rubbish work and even when you make attempt to report these things, they tell you that it is our people that are there and they do nothing. Even when you see structural defects, when they’re building and you complain, they don’t bother. Those engineers from Ministry of Education will come and they collected money and nothing happens. Even the communities don’t bother.
“A lot is going on. Like when it comes to chairs, Delta State government supplies almost all the schools every term with desks, but it was discovered that these desks do not last for a term because of the quality and we keep complaining, telling them that they should go for better quality and still they do not do that. They keep awarding and people keep taking money from the government at the detriment of the schools. Go round the schools, you’ll discover that those desks supplied don’t stand the tests of time. You go to most of the schools that they supplied last term, go round, you will see that the desks are no longer available there. You’ll see the pieces outside.”