Parents disagree over fresh hostel project levy at FSTC

Though authorities of the Federal Science and Technical College (FSTC), Yaba, Lagos, and the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) are bent on contributing their quota to transforming the institution, some members of the latter group, are crying blue murder.

Their discontent can be gleaned from their perennial allegation of extortion leveled against the school. Just last Saturday, a handful of them converged on the college and protested against the new N6, 500 PTA levy meant to facilitate the completion of the ongoing female hostel project; N3, 000 laundry charges and N8, 000 balance for textbooks for the session.

The school’s PTA in the 2014/2015 academic session initiated the building a 1, 200 bed-space female hostel for the school. After series of meetings and deliberations with the PTA, they collectively agreed to pay N30, 000 per student, spread across three terms.

This some students have completed, while some are yet to.

However, towards the end of the last session, the PTA convened another meeting, where each student was levied additional N6, 500 for the hostel completion. The meeting had the PTA chairman, Mrs. Oby Igwilo, the school principal, Rev. Chris Ugorji, and two representatives from the Federal Ministry of Education, the supervising ministry in attendance.

Some parents objected the idea, only to discover that the said sum was eventually included in the second term bill. This triggered some parents’ anger, resulting in a protest.

While a parent, Mr. Victor Ekunado, expressed disappointment over government’s inability to provide infrastructure at the college creating an atmosphere where they are stampeded to build a hostel, another parent, Mr. Gboyega Alaka, accused the PTA of extortion and high-handedness, saying they were forced to comply with issues not agreed at the different meetings.

A police superintendent and a parent, Mr. Augustine Onyejekwe, while referring to the protesters as peddlers of lies, said, “Those people are complete liars. I know what this college was like years ago and what it is presently. There has been massive improvement since Ugorji came. I am not trying to patronise him, but the truth must be told. They are instigating nonsense. They want to take us back to what we had years ago.

For Mr. Simeon Emokpaire, some staff members who do not like the principal’s modus operandi were instigating some parents against him.

“Actually, the principal met a place that needs discipline and since he swung into action, some of the staff do not like the way he is handling them, because he is a core civil servant. If you look at the issues raised, the N6, 500 was not the principal’s making, but the PTAs’. The laundry fee is not a new thing, we paid it last term. The N8, 000 fee is completion of the N12, 000 book deposit for the session. The school out of its magnanimity divided the bill and asked parents to pay in two installments. Some unity schools in the country paid N30,000 at once. So these protesters have no case if you ask me,” Emokpaire said.

Ugorji had, in a recent media briefing described allegations of extortion against him as cheap blackmail. “It is cheap blackmail that I extort money from parents. There was decadence in the college when I came on board and within a short period, while FSTC is now a school to reckon with. We remain focused on delivering quality education to all. Our goal is to transform the college with emphasis on quality and I refused to be distracted.”