Parents spend N33.6m per child as education turns luxury

The South-West region, except for state public schools, has the highest education cost in Nigeria.

Charles Ogwo

…Public education from primary to university goes as low as N1.4m

In a country where more than half of the population lives on less than $2 a day, families are spending an average of N33.6 million ($21,000) to educate just one child from primary school to a university degree.

The staggering figure, though well below what their peers pay globally, is equivalent to over 20 years of income for an average Nigerian, underscoring a deepening inequality and a brewing crisis at the heart of the country’s social contract.

The study conducted by Cowrywise evaluated the average educational cost that a household will incur in funding a child’s academic journey from primary to university levels in public and private schools.

According to the report, it costs about N1.9 million to educate a child in a private primary school, N2.9 million in a private secondary school and N1.2 million in a private university annually.

This implies that it will cost a child in a private school about N11.4 million to complete six years of primary education, N17.4 million for secondary education and N4.8 million for a four-year degree course. This brings the cumulative cost to N33.6 million.

The cost is different in the public school, which is far cheaper. The report states that it costs N53,000 to educate a child in a public primary school, N61,000 in a public secondary school and N167,000 in a public university annually.

For a child in a public school, the parents will pay an average of N318,000 for his/her primary education, N366,000 for secondary education and N668,000 for a four-year course in a university, bringing the total cost to N1.4 million ($875).

However, these estimates vary according to the courses pursued and the duration of the programmes. For instance, the cost of studying medicine may differ from that of studying microbiology.

Experts weigh in

Isaiah Ogundele, an educationist, emphasised that the high cost of educating a child in Nigeria will invariably affect the economic and national development of the country.

“This will affect Nigeria’s development because of the segregation between the rich and the poor. The level of corruption in the country is encouraging this ugly trend, and this will affect the economy in the long run,” he said.

Friday Erhabor, director of media and strategies at Marklenez Limited, attributed the high cost of attending private schools to the poor state of learning environment in public institutions.

“Just take time out to go to a public primary school and see what is happening there. What you will see will not encourage you to drop your child there.

“In some schools, children sit on bare floor. Is that where you want people who can afford private school to send their children to? Some public schools don’t have up to four teachers. Public primary and secondary school have practically collapsed,” he said.

Education is critical for a child

Education is an integral part of a child’s life-journey, and experts say it is a valuable legacy parents can pass on to their children as it offers numerous benefits – both immediate and long-term.

Experts stress that classroom activities help children to develop reasoning, problem-solving and analytical skills.

Beyond academic knowledge, education fosters critical life skills that shape a child’s future, analysts say. For instance, literacy and numeracy skills, including writing and basic arithmetic, are fundamental for day-to-day tasks and future career opportunities.

Southwest tops list of regional education cost

The South-West region, except for state public schools, has the highest education cost in Nigeria.

The region, with an estimated average private primary education cost of N900,000 annually, tops others in terms of the cost of educating a child in private primary school in a non-international school.

The South-South region follows with a cost rate of about N725,000 per year for non-international private primary education, while the South-East places third with N600,000 yearly.

The North-Central region is fourth with N550,000, while North-East and North-West are at the rear with N475,000 and N425,000 respectively.

The South-West region’s surging education cost, especially the private schools, is attributed to the states’ relatively high urbanisation rate.

Under-funding of public schools

Stakeholders say that the combination of poverty and under-funding of public education system is not only limiting opportunities for the youth but also jeopardises the country’s long-term prospects for growth and social stability.

Kingsley Moghalu, president of the Institute for Governance and Economic Transformation, while buttressing the need for quality education, said that good education aims to develop not only the learner’s understanding of established knowledge but also sharpens the mind and enhances capacity for thinking, creativity, and innovation.

“Well-educated individuals are not only confident to lead fulfilling personal lives but also actively engage in problem-solving within their societal contexts, thereby elevating the overall societal welfare and fostering social cohesion,” he said.

To achieve quality education and curb poverty in Nigeria, stakeholders say there is an urgent to adequately fund education in the country.

Isaiah Ogundele, an educationist, affirmed that a poor educational system gives rise to a knowledge gap, which is a serious challenge in Nigeria.

“If one is not informed, one becomes deformed. The rich take advantage of the situation to oppress the uneducated poor by using them as errand boys,” he said.

Ogundele said that poor education has escalated insurgency and banditry in some Nigerian states, noting that it fuels illiteracy rates and poverty.

“Lack of proper education paralyses economic activities because when the unqualified people are occupying some sensitive positions in the absence of qualified people, they will mismanage the resources to the detriment of the masses,” he noted.

The World Bank said in a report that education is central to human and economic development. “It promotes economic growth, national productivity and innovation, and values of democracy and social cohesion,” it noted.

Sola Olukayode, a civil servant, emphasised that poverty and illiteracy are components of a web of challenges that the country has been entangled in since its independence.

“Interestingly, poverty causes illiteracy, and illiteracy causes poverty, so there is a direct relationship between both problems.

“There is a functional relationship between the rate of literacy and the level/ distribution of poverty,” she said.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Nigeria has one of the highest rates of out-of-school children in the world, with about one in three not attending school.

“One in three children are out-of-school in Nigeria; 10.2 million are at the primary level and 8.1 million at the junior secondary school (JSS) level. 12.4 million children never attended school and 5.9 million left school early. Nigeria’s out-of-school population accounts for 20 percent of the global total.”

Charles Ogwo

Charles Ogwo, Head, Education Desk at BusinessDay Media is a seasoned proactive journalist with over a decade of reportage experience.

BUSINESSDAY MEDIA LTD