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| St Francis Grammar School |
In Osun State, the official promise is clear and modest: an Education Trust Levy (ETL) of ₦500 per term for public school students, with mega schools allowed an extra ₦2,000 for maintenance. The levy is meant to return to schools as a running grant. Everything else, according to the state Ministry of Education, is supposed to be decided by Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) according to each school’s specific needs.
Yet an investigation first detailed by Osun Defender and corroborated by multiple parent accounts paints a different picture. Across several public secondary and primary schools in Osogbo and Modakeke, parents report being asked for between ₦12,000 and ₦24,000 per child each term—sometimes without receipts—plus lists of household items, cleaning materials, and compulsory textbook purchases on school premises. For families with several children, the cumulative cost can exceed ₦100,000 a term before uniforms, transport, or extra lessons.
The discrepancy has raised sharp questions about policy implementation, accountability, and whether the state’s free-and-compulsory basic education framework is being hollowed out by informal charges.
The Specific Allegations
Parents and guardians named several schools:
• Osogbo Grammar School (Osogram): Alleged demand of ₦24,000 per student with no receipts issued.
• Saint Francis Grammar School, Modakeke: Junior Secondary School 1 students reportedly asked for ₦22,000 plus ₦500 for report sheets. One guardian with six children said he paid ₦132,000 for a single term, excluding books. “Where do they expect poor parents to get such money in a government school?” he asked, requesting anonymity.
• Fakunle Unity Grammar School, Stadium Area, Osogbo: Alleged ₦16,000 per term.
• Surajudeen Primary School: Reported collection of ₦13,000 per pupil.
• Laro Grammar School, Oke-Fia, Osogbo: Parents allegedly given a list of 18 items (laundry baskets, dustpans, brooms, markers, canes, disinfectants, tissue paper, etc.). Textbooks were also said to be sold on the premises for ₦4,800–₦5,800 each.
These figures are not uniform. They vary by school, which itself raises questions about how the amounts are set, who authorises them, and whether parents receive transparent explanations or official documentation.
Official Positions: Conflicting Accounts
State PTA Chairman Comrade Fadare Moshood said the statewide PTA leadership was unaware of the collections. He suggested they might stem from arrangements among principals under the All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS).
ANCOPSS Osun President Comrade Muyiwa Oladipo declined to comment and referred questions to the Ministry of Education.
Commissioner for Education Hon. Dipo Eluwole reaffirmed the official policy: ₦500 ETL per term (plus ₦2,000 maintenance for mega schools), returned to schools as a running grant. Additional contributions, he said, are determined by individual PTAs because “the needs of different schools differ.” He gave the example of one PTA deciding to buy a new school bus while another chooses to repair an old one—leading to different contribution levels.
The commissioner’s explanation leaves several gaps. It does not confirm whether the specific amounts alleged at the named schools were approved through formal PTA processes, whether parents were consulted, or whether any principals have been queried. A follow-up request for clarification on investigations into Osogram, Laro, and Fakunle reportedly went unanswered at the time of the original reporting. The state PTA chairman’s claim of unawareness further complicates the picture: if PTA leadership at the state level does not know about substantial collections, it is unclear how “PTA-determined” the charges truly are.
Policy and Legal Context
Osun’s education policy sits within Nigeria’s broader constitutional and legal framework. Section 18 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) directs government to provide free, compulsory, and universal primary education and free secondary education “as and when practicable.” At the state level, the Osun State Child Rights Law 2013 (Section 13) is frequently cited by advocates as guaranteeing free and compulsory basic education.
Civil society stakeholder and Child Rights Ambassador Citizen Lola Wey has argued that the alleged practices contravene this provision. She has called on Governor Ademola Adeleke to investigate, sanction culpable school heads, ban unauthorised material demands, and reissue the government’s free-education circular. Wey has pledged continued advocacy and public enlightenment across the state.
The distinction between the approved ETL, legitimate PTA project contributions, and compulsory “fees” or item lists is critical. Legitimate PTA fundraising for infrastructure or maintenance can be valuable when transparent, voluntary or majority-approved, and properly accounted for.
Compulsory charges that function as a condition of attendance, access to records, or classroom participation cross into a different category—one that can undermine the affordability that draws many families to public schools in the first place.
Economic Pressure on Households
Nigeria’s inflation, currency volatility, and high cost of living have made even modest school-related expenses painful. Public schools remain the primary option for low- and middle-income families precisely because they are expected to be far cheaper than private alternatives. When a single term’s “levies” reach ₦16,000–₦24,000 per child, a household with three or four children can face outlays comparable to private school fees in some locations—before books, uniforms, feeding, and transport.
The guardian supporting six children at Saint Francis Grammar School illustrates the multiplier effect: ₦132,000 in one term, books excluded. For families already stretched by food prices and transport costs, such demands can force difficult choices—delaying fees, withdrawing children, or borrowing.
Accountability Gaps and the Path Forward
Several structural issues stand out:
1. Lack of uniform guidance: While the commissioner correctly notes that school needs differ, the absence of clear statewide guidelines on maximum contribution levels, mandatory consultation processes, receipt issuance, and reporting mechanisms creates space for inconsistency and potential abuse.
2. Receipt culture: Allegations of collections without receipts, if confirmed, undermine financial transparency and parents’ ability to track payments.
3. Item lists: Demands for cleaning materials, canes, markers, and similar items require clarification—are these voluntary, collectively agreed, or compulsory conditions?
4. Oversight chain: The apparent disconnect between school-level collections, state PTA leadership knowledge, and ministry authorisation suggests weak feedback loops.
Parents, guardians, and stakeholders have appealed to Governor Adeleke to order a transparent investigation. A useful public response would include:
• Publication of the precise list of permitted charges and the rules governing PTA contributions.
• A clear process for parents to report suspected unauthorised collections without fear of reprisal against their children.
• Confirmation of whether any of the named schools have been audited or their principals queried.
• Reinforcement of the free-education circular and monitoring of compliance.
Until such clarity emerges, the central question remains unresolved: Is the ₦500 Education Trust Levy functioning as the primary, transparent contribution it was designed to be, or has a parallel system of school-level demands effectively replaced it for many families?
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For parents who chose public education because it was supposed to remain affordable, the difference between ₦500 and ₦24,000 is not a technicality. It is the difference between manageable costs and a financial burden that can push education further out of reach. A thorough, public accounting of what is authorised, what is collected, and how the money is used would restore confidence and protect the principle of accessible public schooling in Osun State.
Samuel O. Sulaimon is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Naijapiz. He covers News, Sports, Finance, Faiths, Education, Technology.
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