PROPOSAL FOR PALLIATIVES TO CUSHION THE EFFECT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTRY
14th April 2020
The Honorable Minister, Federal Ministry of Education, Abuja.
Sir,
PROPOSAL FOR PALLIATIVES TO CUSHION THE EFFECT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTRY
The National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) as the umbrella body of private school owners in the country, would like to commend the Federal and State Governments of the country in their current effort to contain the further spread of the novel Coronavirus pandemic in the country since the index case emerged in Nigeria. You will recall that before the lockdown announced by the President in his first broadcast to the nation on Sunday 29th March 2020, private and public schools in the country had since been closed. This abrupt but proactive closure of schools by the government to protect the students in the country, unfortunately, brought a lot of untold hardship on private schools owners who rely heavily on school fees to meet up with obligations such as payment of staff salaries, operational costs and repayment of loans obtained from various financial institutions. Therefore, the reality of where our members find themselves now due to the present COVID- 19 pandemic is rather challenging for members to cope with.
In light of the above, NAPPS hereby presents the following for consideration as matter of urgency to them,q as palliative measures to cushion the effect of the COVID- 19 pandemic on NAPPS members as follows.
1. Federal Ministry of Education to make the necessary request to Central Bank of Nigeria to issue a directive to financial institutions to put in place plans to restructure existing loans & terms for private school operators by granting special concessions and a minimum of 1 year moratorium on payment of existing loans. This is because schools were still in session and expecting school fee payments before the pronouncement of the lockdown.
2. Federal Ministry of Education to carry NAPPS along in re-drafting the obviously truncated academic calendar for the year after the lockdown.
3. Federal Ministry of Education to request Central Bank of Nigeria to include and consider private school operators in the country as a matter of priority in the N50 Billion Targeted Credit Facility for households and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
4. Federal Ministry of Education to issue a directive to states through State Ministries of Education to grant a 12-month (a section) waiver to private school operators regarding school levies, taxes, annual renewal fees, etc.
5. Federal Ministry of Education to request Central Bank of Nigeria to grant private school operators access to single-digit interest and long term loan (minimum of 10 years) facility from the government established financial Institutions such as Bank of Industry, NIRSA, and others. This is necessary to aid the recovery process of private schools after the COVID-19 pandemic is over.
6. Federal Government to consider the establishment of an emergency School-Based Contingency Planning Committee comprising both Federal and States Ministries of Education, SUBEB, NAPPS for both Public and Private Schools. This committee is to be saddled with the following responsibilities among others;
i. To appraise national emergency situations on COVID-19 as it affects private schools in Nigeria
ii. To prepare for school closure by looking at, external examination dates, costs, timing, strategies etc
iii. To consider adjusting the school resumption date
In conclusion, we wish to sound the fact that apart from private school operators providing the much- needed education for the development of the Nigeria Child thereby rendering significant role in the provision of education in the country,
private school operators are also significant employers of labor in the country.
Given this, NAPPS will appreciate if an emergency meeting with private school owners via the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools is conveyed to discuss further on our proposal.
We thank you for the anticipated cooperation.
Please accept the assurances of my highest regard.
Yours sincerely,
Chief ‘Yomi Otubela, Fcma
National President, NAPPS
