Complaints of illegal fees trail Oyo schools
BY STEPHEN GBADAMOSI
As parents in Oyo State public schools continue to complain of demand of illegal fees, the state government has warned principals and teachers of public schools who have been collecting such fees from students to desist, saying that recalcitrant officers will not go unpunished.
The Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Professor Salihu Adelabu, gave the warning at the weekend while speaking with journalists in his office.
Professor Adelabu, who described the act as illegal, reiterated that the state government’s policy on education was free from primary to secondary levels in all public schools across the state.
He urged parents and guardians not to pay any fee to principals or teachers, but report anyone who might request or ask them for payment at the ministry.
The commissioner, therefore, hinted that any principal or teacher found guilty would be seriously dealt with.
“Before school resumes, we had a stakeholders’ meeting where we warned all our teachers to desist from illegal collection of fees.
“This is because in Oyo state, the school is free. Education is free in Oyo State from the basic to secondary schools.
“As regards the collection of illegal fees, we cannot run away from bad eggs among our teachers; we have been hearing this rumour; I call it rumour, because we have been hunting for school principals and teachers that are collecting levies from our students.
“In fact, some Zonal Inspectorate Education (ZIE) officers, our Permanent Secretaries (PS) and Inspectors-General of Education (IGE) have been disguising in schools with money to pay such illegal fees when there is a red flag that in this school, they are collecting illegal fees. I think I can mention two or three of such.
“There was a radio programme some time ago where it was aired that they were collecting illegal fees in one of the secondary schools in Iseyin. They tagged the fee as ‘Ifinko (fee for spraying of grass).’ So, we quickly called the PS and IGE in charge of that zone. He conducted a search; and he discovered that nothing of such happened.
“There was another incident in Ido; we were trying to, at least, get one or two as scapegoats; until now, we are unable to get a result.
“We are not resting on our oars, because we have stumbled on one; and we are seriously working to unravel the truth of the matter. If we can get it; if that information is correct, that particular teacher will definitely be queried and is going to face the panel. So, all our teachers should be very careful.
“To the parents, they should know that education is free in Oyo State. No school, no head of school should demand a dime.
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“They should not pay them; when such happens, they should, please contact the Ministry of Education in Oyo State. If they cannot come over, we have all our Local Inspector of Education (LIEs). We have our PS and IGE. They should please contact them and let us know.
“We have been carrying out what I call sting operations. We are going to schools to find out what type of fee or levy they are collecting from students. We’ve not been able to get so much of them, but in the public domain, we are hearing rumours; we are receiving WhatsApp messages. But we have not been able to get one or two of them.
“We are still looking for them. You too can help us. if you know of any school, just get in touch with us,” he said.
