HOW MUCH ARE YOU OWING IN SCHOOL FEE? By Kayode Adejumo Bello

My friend Ariyo has four children. It was tough; as would be expected for him to send the kids to school.

In a school term, he usually have to cough out a minimum of N500, 000.00 (half amillion naira) because his children attended a 'mid-priced' school.

Coughing out such amount every 3 months was killing my friend. He also have to pay house rent.

My friend was perpetually in debt.

He ran helter-skelter to make available the best he could through savings, goodwill assistance and difficult loans. Often times he was only able to pay a quarter or half of the half a million.

His debt burdens mounted every 90 days.

By the time he was owing nearly N2M in school fees, he finally came to his senses.

He withdrew his first two children from the so-called private school and enrolled them in a public school!

He told me in confidence that despite his 'huge' investments, his wards were only 'dragging by' academically as a result of poor quality of teaching, teaching staff and deficient learning infrastructures etc in the so-called private school.

He ported.

Soon enough, his second born; Segun began to top his class in Loyola College, his new school. He won prizes and scholarships in quick succession! He made 8As at his first sitting for SSCE as an SS2 student. By the time I met Segun in 2018, he had scored 319 in JAMBE. He easily qualified to study Medicine at the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife!

He is currently the best medical student in his class at OAU. He is on at least 3 scholarships! His sister Bolu; also an A-list student is equally studying Medicine!

The above is a true life story excepting names...And that's not talking about my friends who are paying as high as N1m per child per term in private schools!

If you have the means, please let your children go to the 'best' school possible. But you shouldn't have to perrenially borrow to keep paying school fees. How much did your own parents borrow to send you to school?

Statistically, there has not been any proven data establishing the superiority of students in private schools over and above their public school counterparts. On the contrary, there are sufficient indicators suggesting the otherwise!

Rather than struggling to borrow to pay through your nostrils every 3 months to over-priced private schools; why don't you support the PTA or old boys association of your alma mater or your chosen public school and make them better for your children and their mates?

There is no harm supplementing government's efforts. The 'life' you saved is eventually yours.

REMEMBER this is not condemning private schools but our collective negative penchant for running on a debt to procure the same 'brick and mortal' mode of education available here-across board in our clime. Haba, you don't want to do that!

The story of Segun and his unravelling academic exploits encouraged me too to pull my 'Professor' boy, Iye from his over-priced private school into an 'IVY league' public secondary school in Ibadan. My boy's school in Ibadan has more facilities and infrastructures than some so-called private Universities! The alumni of his school parades ex-and serving ministers, senators, governors, first class Obas, front-line professionals, captains of industries etc. And I assure you his academics are on the ascendancy.

And I am having to pay close to nothing!

Come on friends; you really don't have to kill yourself borrowing to pay school fees. Learn from me and Ariyo my friend and you can live happily ever after.

Don't forget to thank me later please...

Kayode Adejumo-Bello,

Professional Biographer and creative writer.

Member, Biographer International Organisation.

15 September 2021