In spite of the laudable efforts being made by the Rivers State Government towards ensuring access to education to all children of school age through its free education policy, there are emerging indications that some of those entrusted with the management of the public schools are compromising the free education programme.

Investigations by The Tide show that various fees are being charged by some of the school heads thereby defrauding parents whose children and wards study in these public schools.

In some public schools visited by our investigators, parents were being asked to pay some huge sums of money in the name of registration fees, examination fees and school uniforms.

At Community Secondary School, Rumuapara in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, parents were asked to pay N15,000 registration fee for any child entering into JSS III.

Apart from that, such child is also expected to purchase one shovel and a knife or pay a total of N1,500.

The Tide gathered that there is no receipt covering the fees as a ploy to cover the fraud. The explanation by the authorities is that the N15,000 covers school uniform and sports wears.

When asked if the government was aware of the fees, the reply was, “yes, the government is aware. We don’t give receipt but we submit the list of those who paid to the Ministry of Education for accountability.”

The respondent, who would not give her name, remarked that they spend much on security of the school and in keeping the premises clean for condusive academic activities.

In most public schools in Etche Local Government Area and other remote areas of the state, various forms of illegal fees are being paid by parents, as a pupil is made to pay N750.00 per term in the name of examination fees.

A parent, who spoke to our correspondent explained that her children forfeited terminal examinations for her inability to pay up the examination fee.

“I don’t understand what examination fee means when our government has given the state free education. Does it mean that setting and marking examination papers are not part of the jobs of the teachers?” she queried.

The parent, a widow, who does not want her name in print for fear of reprisal actions on her children, pleaded with the state government, particularly the authorities of Ministry of Education to make public all fees not covered by the free education policy as a guide to parents.

She equally enjoined school supervisors to wake up from their slumber and uncover those behind the illegal fees as well as those in authority giving them cover.

Meanwhile, contrary to insinuations that Rivers State Government-owned computers at the Model Primary School, Rukpokwu in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area have been removed from the offices, the head teacher said all the computers sent to the school were intact.

The Head Teacher, Eli Nwankwoala who made the clarification to The Tide in his office, explained that a total of 44 computer sets sent to the school as part of the ICT initiative of the state government were complete and in use. He, however, said, few of them were affected by a resent surge of electric power, nothing that even at that, the sets were still in the school and not removed to anywhere.

The school head, who took our reporter through the classes and the computer pool, remarked that, “one computer for the instructor, 13 for the class teachers and 30 for pupils, all amounting to 44 given to the school, are all present.”

He advised members of the public to discountenance the rumour as such insinuation could only come from enemies of progress and emphatically stated that the security in the school is tight, while stressing that it is untrue that the computers had been removed.

Chris Oluoh