Edo: Private school owners cry out over taxation, new education policy
Quick Read
Reacting to the new policy, the State Controller of AFED, Dr. Osagie Erhunmwunse, who spoke on behalf of the private schools coalition, faulted the government over its failure to consult with them.
By Jethro Ibileke
No fewer than 10 private school owners in Edo have put up their schools for sale due to alleged over-taxation by the State government.
The chairman of Association of Private School Owners of Nigeria (APSON), Dr. Ngozi Christy Emuen, disclosed this to journalists on Tuesday in Benin during a one-day consultative town hall meeting of private school owners.
She decried what she described as government excessive taxes of private schools.
According to Emuen, private schools pay about nine different levies, including fumigation fees.
Meanwhile, the Coalition of Association of Private Schools (CAPS), the umbrella body of private school owners in the State have faulted the government directives on the transition from formal to skills education, without their input.
CAPS comprises of Association of Private School Owners of Nigeria (APSON), Association for Formidable Education Development (AFED), National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), and the Association of Model Islamic Schools.
The Coalition noted that academic transition cannot be a directive, but a continuous engagement with private stakeholders who are hosts in the education sector.
This was part of the decision canvassed during a one-day consultative town hall meeting of the association, geared to articulate a unified position on the recent education policies introduced by the Edo State Ministry of Education.
it would be recalled that the State government had recently announced an education policy that focuses on equipping students with practical skills and mandatory entrepreneurship training for Junior Secondary School (JSS 3), which will culminate in a Skills Acquisition Certificate, alongside their Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) certificate.
Reacting to the new policy, the State Controller of AFED, Dr. Osagie Erhunmwunse, who spoke on behalf of the private schools coalition, faulted the government over its failure to consult with them.
According to him, no policy is a policy until it passes the three critical tests of policy: objectivity, inclusivity, and practicality.
”We know that it is the right of the government to provide a policy framework, we are also aware that constitutionally, it is the responsibility of the government to provide an enabling environment for such policy to thrive.
“What that means is, for you to make a policy, you have to realize that you are not serving one sector of society. You need everybody on board.
”The government has to sit down and come out with a workability of the project (skill education).
”How do we move from formal to skill? It can’t be said to be a directive by saying go and do this. No! What is the support to help us transit? Those are part of the engagement.
”Just like you all heard of the education policy, that is how private school owners association leaders woke up to see it.
”We cannot just be invited to come and be implementing what we were not part of in the first place,” he stated.
Comments