In order to look into the recent increase in fees in schools across the nation, the Federal Government says it will establish a formal negotiation team between the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) and relevant stakeholders.

At a news conference on Friday to announce the celebration of the International Day to Protect Education from Attack in Abuja, the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Yusuf Sununu, announced this.

According to Sununu, the increase in school fees may be a major contributing factor to attacks in schools; as a result, it is important to look into the issue in order to prevent further attacks.

“So many areas that require finances are being attacked, but we must also look at the constitutional provisions.

“The constitution expressly states free education, but with a caveat: ‘when the government can afford it, and that is why it also comes as voluntary contributions by all stakeholders.

“When we say safety in schools, it is a collective responsibility. So we are going to encourage formal negotiations.

“Where we cannot provide, it is to encourage PTA and relevant institutions so that we can agree to a term that is acceptable to all of us.

“Also, we will encourage a lot of partnerships as part of areas that can bring peace. Whether we agree or not, we must appreciate the role of PTAs in sustaining services in many of our schools at both the local and federal levels.

“So, while we do that with scarce resources, at the ministry level, we try to see how we can block leakages and see how more funds can be available to schools to ensure that quality education is affordable and acceptable to every Nigerian without decreasing the quality of education,” NAN quoted him as saying.

The minister also said the Federal Government had ratified the Safe School Declaration in December 2019 and developed a safe school policy to uphold the right to education in emergency situations.

He pledged the ministry’s commitment to developing learning centers in Internally Displaced people (IDP) camps as well as providing relevant information on threat assessments to schools at all levels.