Education Rights
School Demands Illegal Levies for Free UBE Education
When a school withholds exams over compulsory charges it has no right to impose
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foundational
7 minutes
The Situation
What They Said
“You must pay the PTA levy, the development levy, and the exam registration fee before your child can sit exams. These are compulsory.”
A parent has come to a public junior secondary school to resolve why their child has been placed on a list of students barred from sitting the end-of-term examinations. The school's bursar or administrator presents a list of charges — labelled as PTA levy, development fund levy, and exam registration fee — and insists these must all be paid before the child is allowed into the examination hall. This practice is extremely common across Nigeria's public school system, where schools use creative naming to reintroduce fees that the UBE Act explicitly prohibits. Families who cannot afford these charges often have no idea they are being asked to pay something the law makes illegal.
The Fallacy
Relabelling Fallacy
The school is imposing fees that are prohibited by law, but calling them by different names — 'levies', 'contributions', and 'registration fees' — to create the impression they fall outside the legal prohibition. The UBE Act's prohibition on fees for basic education applies to all financial charges imposed on students or their families as a condition of access to education, regardless of what those charges are called. Renaming a prohibited fee does not make it lawful. The test is not the label on the charge but whether the family is required to pay money in order for their child to access public basic education.
What the Law Says
Your Legal Foundation
Universal Basic Education (Compulsory) Act 2004
Section 2 — Free and Compulsory Basic Education
“Every Government in Nigeria shall provide free, compulsory and universal basic education for every child of primary and junior secondary school age.”
The word 'free' in this section is unqualified. It means no family should pay any amount to access basic education in a public school. Examinations are a core component of the educational process, and barring a student from sitting exams for non-payment of any charge directly contradicts the free nature of the education the Act guarantees.
Universal Basic Education (Compulsory) Act 2004
Section 10 — Prohibition on Fees for Basic Education
“No proprietor of a public primary or junior secondary school shall charge or collect any fee from pupils or their parents or guardians in respect of the admission of any pupil to the school or the attendance of any pupil at the school.”
Section 10 applies to all charges — regardless of nomenclature — that a school demands as a condition of admission or continued attendance, which includes sitting examinations. PTA levies, development levies, and exam registration fees imposed as mandatory conditions all fall within this prohibition. A school administrator who enforces such charges is personally in breach of this provision.
Universal Basic Education Commission (Establishment) Act 2004
Section 16 — UBEC Oversight of School Funding
“The Commission shall monitor and ensure the proper utilisation of the Basic Education Fund and shall receive and investigate complaints about the administration of basic education.”
UBEC has a statutory mandate to receive complaints about the misadministration of basic education, including the unlawful imposition of fees. A parent whose child has been barred from examinations due to unpaid levies has the right to lodge a formal complaint with the UBEC State Office, which can investigate and sanction the school.
What Scripture Says
God's Word on This
Matthew 10:8 (NIV)
“Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.”
The principle here is that what has been received as a gift — and Nigeria's UBE framework is a gift of public provision — must be given freely to those it is meant to serve. A school that receives government funding designated for free education and then charges families for it has inverted this principle entirely. Access to education, funded by the state on behalf of all citizens, should flow freely to every child without financial barriers being placed in the way.
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What They'll Say Next
Common Counter-Arguments
After you respond, they may push back with these arguments. Members get the full rebuttal for each.
They might say: “The government funding does not cover everything the school needs — we rely on parent contributions to function. You want us to just let the school fall apart?”
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They might say: “The child can sit the exams — we will not stop her from entering the hall. But she will not receive her results until the levies are paid.”
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