Daud Olatunji, Abeokuta
With schools reopening for graduating pupils this week after months of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, parents of pupils in private secondary schools in Ogun State on Sunday kicked against the request of N25,000 COVID-19 test fee by the government.
Many of the parents, who took their demonstrations to the streets, faulted the decision of the government to ask them to pay N25,000 on each pupil before they would be allowed to resume.
The state government had said no boarding school pupil would be allowed to resume without a valid negative COVID-19 test certificate.
The government also asked the parents to take their wards to designated places for the test between Friday and Monday.
The dissatisfied parents on Sunday thronged the MTR 250 bed specialist hospital, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, the designated place for the pupils in Abeokuta.
It was gathered that attempts by the parents to get their children tested for free failed as they were asked to pay N25,000 for each child.
When our correspondent visited the venue, it was observed that many parents were locked out of the facility.
Some of the parents, who spoke with The PUNCH did not want their names in print because of attendant consequences but they lamented that the payment of N25,000 for COVID-19 test shows the government cared less about its citizens.
They complained that the economic reality in the country has made it difficult to pay such an amount of money.
Speaking on behalf of the parents, the vice-chairman, Parents Teachers Association of one of the private schools, Dr. Kehinde Sanwo, queried the action of the government.
Sanwo, who was flanked by other aggrieved parents, decried the alleged discrimination against students in private schools.
She said, “The parents here are good citizens of Ogun State and we are taxpayers. And it is so disheartening that we are here at the MTR hospital, the venue for COVID-19 test.
“When we arrived, we were told to pay N25,000. Whereas, some people who arrived earlier paid nothing. So, we don’t know where the decision came from. Some of us have more than two children. Why this segregation?”
Reacting to the protest, the state government insisted that the parents will need to pay the levy and get a certificate to show that their children are COVID-19 negative before they could resume school.
The government in a statement by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Basic and Secondary Education, Mrs Ronke Soyombo, said, “The government will bear the full costs of the COVID-19 Test for all the boarding SS3 students in the state-owned public schools.
“All private school owners are also expected to ensure that all their boarding students are certified COVID-19 test negative before being admitted into their boarding facilities.
“To further assist the private schools, Ogun State Government has negotiated a huge discount in the cost of COVID-19 Test with some healthcare service providers
“However, private school owners and parents are free to engage any other service provider of their choice provided that the service provider is certified by NCDC as COVID-19 Test service provider.
“Indeed, Certificate of negative COVID-19 Test from other locations across the country will be tenable provided, as usual, it is from an NCDC certified centre and the test has been performed within 72 hours of the date of resumption.”
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