Delta Govt Says Six Head Teachers Arrested, Others Demoted Over Illegal Fees Collections

The Delta State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr. Chiedu Ebie, says the state government has arrested six head teachers, and also demoted Chief Inspectors of Education and others over illegal fees collections in the state.

Ebie stated this in Asaba while addressing newsmen on the backdrop of the embarrassing viral video of Success Adegor, a seven-year-old primary three pupil of Okotie Eboh primary school I, in Sapele who was sent home from school few day ago over school fees collection.

He said that no primary and secondary school head is authorized to collect any fee outside the prescribed fee for collection in the state.

Ebie mentioned the prescribed fees which schools are allowed to collect at the beginning of session as N50 for school badge, N250 for report card, N100 for consumables and N750 for sports wears which he said is necessary for students’ use during inter-house sports competitions which hold second term of every session.

According to him, any fee outside these fees, including the examination fee which led to the suspension of the Okotie Eboh Primary School head teacher, Mrs. Vero Igbigwe, is illegal and will attract the anger of the ministry which will be enforced according to civil service rules.

However, some journalists who have been victims of head teachers extortion at the briefing told the commissioner that almost all the public secondary and primary schools in the state are guilty of this offence as they impose levies of all kinds on students which the students must compulsorily pay.

Among some of the illegal levies identified are examination fees at the end of every term, admission fees at the beginning of the session, buying toiletries for schools which are shared among teachers, buying brooms, mugs, markers for the schools.