Human Rights Lawyer Condemns School Fee Hike

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has condemned the recent increase in school fees by the Federal and Lagos State Governments, labeling it as “illegal.”

In July 2023, the Federal Government raised fees for Unity Schools from N45,000 to N100,000 per term, marking an increase of over 120%. Similarly, the Lagos State Government announced a new fee of N100,000 for state-owned boarding schools, up from the previous N35,000.

Falana criticized the fee hikes as a violation of the Child’s Rights Law, noting that the increases surpass the minimum wage of N70,000. He argued that this makes it impossible for a worker to afford the education of even one child in Unity Schools or secondary schools in Lagos State. Falana vowed to challenge the decision in the appropriate High Court.

He highlighted that under the Child’s Rights Act and Lagos State Child’s Rights Law, every child is entitled to free and compulsory education from primary to junior secondary school. Therefore, the imposition of N100,000 fees on students in junior secondary schools is illegal.

Falana also pointed out that over N45.7 billion in matching grants for the implementation of Universal Basic Education (UBE) between 2020 and 2023 remains unaccessed by many state governments, according to Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).