Private school owners in Edo State on Friday staged a peaceful protest in Benin City over tax increments by the state government.
Describing the increment as alarming, the school owners, under the umbrella of the Coalition of Associations of Private Schools (CAPS) who carried placards and banners, converged at the premises of the Ministry of Education to register their grievances.
Members of the coalition include the Association of Private School Owners of Nigeria (APSON), Association of Formidable Education Development (AFED), National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) and Association of Model Islamic Model Schools.
The protesters called on the state government to reverse the tax increment they put between 200 and 400 per cent allegedly imposed on school proprietors.
Chairman of the coalition, Dr Ohis-Olakhe Emmanuel who led the protest, described the tax hike as punitive and economically damaging to the education sector.
According to him, the group had exhausted all channels of dialogue without result, prompting the need for the protest.
“Private schools are not only complementing government efforts in the education sector, but we are also significant employers of labour.
“With this increase, over 300,000 teachers risk losing their jobs, not to mention the countless vendors and service providers who depend on schools for survival,” he said.
He said the new policy used N30,000 to N35,000 per student to compute tax, whereas the schools were charging below the amount.
He said tax ought to be calculated on profit and not the entire income, without considering other expenses incurred by the schools.
Speaking in the same vein, Secretary of the coalition, Dr Austin Igbasan argued that the increase in taxes would lead to a ripple effect.
He said the effects include school closures, job losses, and surge in the number of out-of-school children, particularly among low-income families who could no longer afford higher tuition fees.
Secretary of AFED, Mr Oladele Ogundele, on his part, called for a uniformed tax system for school owners, describing multiple layers of taxation by various government agencies as disturbing.
The multiple layers, he said, included Personal Income Tax (PAYE) for staff, renewal fees, environmental and health certificates, signage fees, tenement rates, and other levies.
“Education is a social service that should be supported, not taxed into extinction.
“The Nigerian Constitution and the Universal Basic Education Act clearly emphasised free and compulsory education, which this heavy taxation contradicts,” he said.
Addressing the protesters after a short meeting with the leadership of the coalition, Edo State’s Commissioner of Education, Mr Paddy Iyamu pledged that the government would look into the demands of the school owners.
He noted that as a government which was ready to provide an enabling environment for businesses in Edo, a meeting would be convened with the state internal revenue service to address the grey area.
Iyamu said tax was necessary for the government to deliver on its promises, promising, however, that the schools would not be overburdened with tax at the end of the engagement.
The commissioner called on schools falling short of required standards to take corrective action promptly, warning that the government would soon begin enforcing stricter measures.
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