Proprietors Appeal to FG to Extend NELFUND to Students in Private Schools

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

The National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) in Nigeria yesterday appealed to the federal government to extend the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to its students in line with the current economic realities in the country.
NELFUND is the official federal government agency in charge of student loans in Nigeria but only the public institutions are currently benefitting from the scheme.
The private school proprietors at their 17th Annual National Conference yesterday, in Abuja lamented that the government policies and other factors had forced them to increase fees which are now reducing the population of their students.
Speaking with journalists on the sidelines of the conference, the Chairman, Board of Trustees of NAPPS, Mijinwa Said, said the best way to encourage private institution students, and halt disturbing cases of dropouts is to extend NELFUND loans to them.
He added, “When the federal government give loans to students, every child of this country is entitled to it because the money in question is Nigeria’s money.
“It include the money of the parents of the same children we are talking about. Therefore, limiting the loans to just public schools is not enough.
“We therefore appeal to the federal government to do everything humanly possible.
“We know President Bola Tinubu to be a very excellent father to ensure that this loan is extended both to private and public school students.”
Said, who was a former national president of NAPPS noted that it was the duty of government to provide education but that investors like him had to step in because government alone cannot do the job alone.
He nevertheless noted with regret that heavy taxes being imposed on private educational institutions by the various tiers of government was affecting their growth.
He said, “The challenges we face included multiple taxation here and there from various governments, local governments, state governments and all over.
“We are all aware education is tax-free. But unfortunately, in this part of the world, proprietors are facing challenges of multiple taxation, not just taxation, multiple different styles are used. This is one of the biggest problems we face.”
The National President of NAPPS, Dr. Semira Jibri, said the conference was aimed at exploring a new system of education that would benefit the students and society.
Jibri said the theme of the conference which is, “Embracing Transformational Education: Pathways amidst volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment,” was timely.
She said, “This is a need that could not be more relevant or timely in the landscape of education where the ethnic community of this country is weak.
“The education industry is experiencing unprecedented change and our role as school leaders is continuously shaped by forces beyond our control.

“In a world where challenges appear as fast as we find solutions, we are called to explore what the future of school business truly looks like.

“How can we, as school owners today, how can we innovate and perhaps most importantly, how can we ensure that the schools we lead today will thrive for the benefit of a future generation?

“Yet, these challenges also offer us incredible opportunities. In times of change, transformational education becomes not just a need but a necessity.

“To the students that we are building in our classrooms, they have to face a world that demands agility, resilience and a lifelong passion for learning.

“Throughout this conference, we will learn and explore different ways to drive this transformation in our schools,” she added.