Private school owners in Edo State on Tuesday alleged that no fewer than 10 proprietors have put up their schools for sale over what they described as excessive taxation by the state government.

DAILY POST reports that the chairman of the Association of Private School Owners of Nigeria, APSON, Dr Ngozi Christy Emuen, stated this during a one-day consultative town hall meeting of the association in Benin City.

The meeting, organised by private school owners under the aegis of the Coalition of Association of Private Schools, CAPS, was aimed at articulating a unified position on the recent education policies introduced by the Edo State Ministry of Education.

APSON, which decried what it called excessive taxation of private schools by the government, alleged that members pay about nine different levies, including fumigation fees.

Emuen alleged that as a result of the development, about 10 proprietors have since put up their schools for sale.

Meanwhile, CAPS, comprising several educational bodies, also faulted the government’s directive on the transition from formal to skills-based education.

The group comprises APSON; the Association for Formidable Education Development, AFED; National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools, NAPPS; and Association of Model Islamic Schools.

The coalition opined that the academic transition cannot simply be a directive, but must be the outcome of continuous engagement with private stakeholders, who are key players in the education sector.

“We know that it is the right of the government to provide a policy framework, we are also aware that constitutionally, it is the responsibility of the government to provide an enabling environment for such a policy to thrive,” the group said.

The spokesperson of APSON, Dr Osagie Erhunmwunse, who is also the state controller of AFED, noted that “no policy is a policy” until it passes the three critical tests of objectivity, inclusivity, and practicality.

According to him, “what that means is, for you to make a policy, you have to realise that you are not serving one sector of society. You need everybody on board.

“The government has to sit down and come out with the workability of the project (skill education).

“How do we move from formal to skill? It can’t be said to be a directive by saying go and do this. No. What is the support to help us transit? Those are part of the engagement.

“Just like you all heard of the education policy, that is how private school owners association leaders woke up to see it.

“We cannot just be invited to come and implement what we were not part of in the first place.”

The Edo government’s skill education directive focuses on equipping students with practical skills and mandatory entrepreneurship training for Junior Secondary School, JSS 3.

DAILY POST learnt that at the end of the practical skills and mandatory entrepreneurship training, students would acquire Skills Acquisition Certificate alongside their Basic Education Certificate Examination, BECE.

Edo taxes: Over 10 owners allegedly put schools up for sale