By Elizabeth Adegbesan
Before the economy came to the crossroads, where everything has moved away from the reach of common people, end of year parties for school children were a sort of carnival in many Nigerian schools.
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Children in many public and private schools, wore their best dresses, entertained their parents with drama, debates and other intellectual presentations, as evidence of intellectual knowledge they acquired throughout the year.
Some Parents use this opportunity to flaunt their wealth and exhibit their fashion sense to others.
The parties usually climax in the graduation ceremony of children who have completed their academic sojourn in the schools and also those moving from one class to the other.
Usually, the parties are preceded by small payments agreed between the school and Parent Teachers Associations PTAs.
However, in recent times, Economy&Lifestyle has discovered that due to the high cost of goods and services, most schools have increased the fees paid for these children parties and the parents are no longer finding it funny.
Not only that the fees increased, the cost of wears in the market has gone way up and for parents who have more than one child in a school, the burden is heavy.
Consequently, many parents had to skip the parties despite the pleas from their children and school teachers.
For them, it is to cut costs and save for the first term fees. What some of these parents have resorted to is taking their children to eateries on the day of their school parties, instead of paying huge cost to make the parties.
Mrs. Florence Omotunde, a caterer, said she took her two children to eateries on their school end of term party day as she couldn’t afford the exorbitant fee.
“My children’s school asked them to pay N65,000 for the end of year party.
“I was told that they will not allow them into the school if they din’t pay.
“There are important things I could use the money for and first term school fees are just around the corner.
“So I just took my children to an eatery to get them snacks and ice cream which I spent N7,000.
“They were very happy and I was pleased too because that was the thing they would have given to them if they had attended and the school will tell you they spent only on renting canopies, chairs and so on for the party; making excuses on why they couldn’t share gifts.
“I will buy my children a new pair of school sandals for the new term as their gifts.”
‘My children cried’
Mrs. Faith Daniel, a fashion designer, explained how bitter she felt when her children’s school management told her she couldn’t bring her son to the party if she can’t pay the fee: “I was totally disappointed in my child’s school management.
“Last year, I paid N10,000 for my son’s school party in which he was given a water bottle as a gift.
“He was the leader of choreography and I had to buy him new attire for the presentation. This year, the party fee was raised to N20,000 and his brother is graduating too.
“I told his school that I will pay for his brother and it will cover him.
“They refused, telling me that he won’t be allowed into the party. So I concluded not to pay for anything. My children should stay home. Though they cried, I told them we will go for a treat at the eatery.
“I don’t have N50,000 to pay for a party.”
Those who could afford the party fee however turned down the offer of school management suggesting asoebi for the graduands and lead role presenters.
Mrs. Rhoda Ndubuisi, a Point of Sale agent, said: “The way and manner many primary schools increased their end of term party and graduation fees this year is ridiculous.
“You will hear prizes like N20,000 to N50,000 as if you are paying school fees.
“They will tell you your child is a lead role player in a particular presentation and you will need to buy her a particular kind of attire.
“My child’s school told me they took aso-ebi for graduands. I turned down such idea immediately. I told them I have struggled to pay for her graduation ceremony and I don’t have any extra money for aso-ebi. She will wear what she has at home.
“If she weren’t a graduand I won’t pay a dime for such party.
“First term is fast approaching and there are other important bills to foot.”
Headmistress’ explanation
Mrs. Magdalena Arikawe, a headmistress, explained the cause of the increase in party fees and why parents whose child didn’t pay are not allowed into the school on the day of the party.
She said: “It is not the school’s fault to charge high fees for end of term party. If you go to the market, the prices of goods and services haven’t dropped.
“These party, you will hire a DJ, canopies and chairs or rent a hall. The school will cook, buy drinks, beef up security, first aid for health emergency and also buy gifts to reward best performing pupils in various academic areas.
“These cost a whole lot and it is the reason for the increase in the price of party fees this year.
“Parents are not allowed into the party with their children who didn’t pay the party fees. This is because if you allow one the rest will feel cheated and it will not also motivate such parent to pay the party fee the following year.
“The party is meant to celebrate the children and not the school or teachers.”
The post As Economy Bites Harder: More school children denied end-of-year parties appeared first on Vanguard News.
