Kano Assembly Passes Bill Cutting Private Schools’ Tax From 15% To 5%

Kano State House of Assembly has passed the amendment to the Kano State Private and Voluntary Institutions Board Law, slashing the tax and levy imposed on private schools from 15 per cent to five per cent to reduce the financial burden on parents.

The bill was passed yesterday during plenary presided over by the speaker, Rt. Hon. Ismail Falgore, after it was considered by the Committee of the Whole and read for the third time.

The lawmakers said the reduction became necessary because the high taxes imposed on private school operators were often passed on to parents as higher school fees.

In an interaction with journalists after the plenary, the majority leader of the House, Lawan Husseini, said the amendment also bars private primary and secondary schools from unilaterally increasing tuition. Under the new law, he explained that any proposed fee hike must first be discussed and approved by the school’s Parent-Teacher Association, while any approved increase must not exceed 10 per cent of the existing one.

He further explained that the bill equally moved to curb excessive charges for external examinations, including the West African Senior School Certificate Examination, the National Examinations Council and the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies.

Under the amended law, private schools are permitted to charge only a maximum administrative mark-up of 10 per cent above the official examination fees set by the examination bodies.

“The legislation further makes it mandatory for all private schools in the state to comply with the government’s approved academic calendar on resumption dates and holidays,” he stated.

The majority leader further noted that the bill also stipulates that the Executive Secretary of the Kano State Private and Voluntary Institutions Board must be a retired or experienced educationist who attained at least Grade Level 14 to 16 in the public service, maintaining that, the amendments were introduced to ease the financial burden on parents, improve transparency in the operations of private schools and strengthen regulatory standards across the education sector in Kano State.