Parents in Osun State are troubled by the steep school fees, escalating food prices, and soaring fuel costs as students and pupils begin the third term of the 2023/2024 academic session.
In a conversation on Sunday, Florence Oluwagbemiga, a banker and parent, expressed the hardships faced due to the exorbitant prices of food items. She further disclosed that towards the end of the second term, the school informed parents of a hike in tuition fees to be paid at the start of the current term.
According to her, “I send my children to a private school. We all know that public schools in this state are just a shadow of itself.
“The increment in school fees is becoming worrisome. Schools increase the fees at their own convenience. You can imagine an increment in schools thrice in an academic session. That is the reality we are faced with all because we want our children to get the best education we can afford.
“Now, the children have resumed. We all know what that means. They will feed at home, feed in the school and also we will have to get them snacks and all the others. This is eating deep into our pockets. There is a need for some things to be done fast to arrest the situation.”
Another parent, Rashidat Jimoh, a fashion designer, said when her children vacated, she heaved a sigh of relief but was also conscious that resumption would not take long.
She recalled the nightmare of transport fare she always encountered taking her children to school from her house and then back at the end of the day.
“I used to have a car until it got damaged. Now, I have to get the children onto a commercial motorcycle from my house to the main road. From there we will take a minibus (korope) to the school.
“After closing, I will have to go to their school from my shop to fetch them back to my shop.
“After closing of business for the day, we will board a minibus back home and take another commercial motorcycle from the main road back to our house. Most times, this is around 8 or 9 pm. We get so tired that we just go to bed.
“Although, we always have our supper in my shop.”
She lamented that with the recent fuel scarcity being felt in the state, the transportation cost for her and her children is a major cause for concern.
“I don’t even know how to start. I foresee transport fares increasing by 100 per cent due to this unnecessary fuel scarcity,” she said.
A civil servant, Hussein Arogun, regretted that there were no good schools in his community located after Fountain University, Osogbo.
He said he brings his six children from his community to town from Monday to Friday before going to work and after closing hours.
“We take commercial motorcycles from my community to Isale-Osun and from there we take a minibus to the Ogo-Oluwa area where their school is located.
“After that, I’d go to my office at the state government Secretariat, Abere. After closing, I will go and pick them up at school and back home. The same process will continue the next day. It has not been easy as this fuel scarcity will add to my predicament now that schools will resume on Monday. I don’t know how to cope with six children because I have no car yet,” he said.
A school proprietress, identified as Florence, on Monday morning in Osogbo, also said she looked forward to a rewarding academic term.
She said she is aware of the fact that some parents are complaining about the high school fees being imposed by some schools.
“This is not our fault entirely. Many factors make us increase our school fees.
“These factors she said include salaries to staff, administrative costs, fuels where the school has generators, purchase of stationery and times rentals.
“We need to survive and we also need to stay afloat. We are all trying to survive in this Nigeria. Our demands are legitimate and it is not meant to punish our extended parents,” she concluded.
Due to the scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, the Osun State Government, through its task force on Petroleum Price Monitoring, on Sunday, warned owners of petrol stations across the State against hoarding petroleum products to create artificial scarcity.
The warning was issued in a statement by the task force Chairman and the Chief of Staff to the State Governor, Kazeem Akinleye, on Sunday in Osogbo.
The warning became necessary after reported cases of hikes in the pump price of PMS, also known as petrol and a resurgence of long queues in filling stations in some parts of the country.
The government said it came to the decision to issue the warning after surveillance reports indicated a trend towards the situation.
The state government, while reminding marketers of the already harsh economic situation on the members of the public, urged them to be public-spirited in their pricing of petroleum products, the task force.
The government also warned that hoarders arrested will face the full wrath of the law.
