Basic Education Not Entirely Free – UBEB Abuja

Basic education is not totally free, according to the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

In response to a report by The ICIR, the Director at the FCT-UBEB, Bashir Abubakar, who spoke on behalf of the Chairman of the Board, Hassan Sule, made this statement in a radio interview on January 18th.

“Universal Basic Education is free and compulsory. That is number one. The issue of charges, maybe they are talking about PTA charges. We have a slogan in UBEC: Education for all is a responsibility of all. Sometimes we say it is free, but not free 100 per cent. Why? Because a parent is expected to provide the uniform for the child,” he said.

However, Abubakar emphasized that pupils were not required to buy uniforms from the school as they may find them elsewhere.

“The government employs teachers; we provide books, we provide so many other materials for the school. It is part of collaboration. There is no way you will say government should take care of 100 per cent of everything,” he said.

Although he termed this as a kind of assistance and not mandatory fees, he continued that children in the FCT schools also pay levies decided upon by the Parents-Teachers Association (PTA) and approved by the board.

Abubakar asked parents to attend PTA meetings in order to stay in touch with the school administration, learn about the agreed-upon payments, and report instances when excessive money were being demanded.

“When there is an allegation, if the report comes to us, we set up a committee, we go round the schools you are accusing of doing something wrong. If we verify, we sanction them,” he said.

Primary school and the first three years of high school are included in basic education in Nigeria.

The Universal Basic Education Act of 2004 regulates it and stipulates that all children in Nigeria must get a free, public education.

However, according to ICIR, some fees were levied by government-owned schools in the FCT, which added to the rising number of students who were not enrolled in school.

For the enrolment of new pupils, government-owned elementary and junior secondary schools in the FCT charge between N10,000 and N35,000, which is out of reach for many Nigerians who are facing severe economic hardships. Excelbreakingnews reported.