The Board of Trustees of the Atlantic Hall School has come under scathing attack from parents who describe the virtual lesson fees during the school closure as exploitative and unfair.
The School had imposed an initial monthly fee of N195,000 per student with effect from May, with the plan for the virtual school to run till end of July or till such a time that schools will reopen after the relaxation of the COVID-19 restrictions by the state.
But an immediate protest by the parents resulted in a N20,000 reduction to N175,000 as contained in a letter to parents dated May 10, 2020, a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent.
According to the letter, the online lesson was to run a virtual term to complement what amount of time that may be left to run the third term if the term eventually resumes even though the school also recognised that the term may not happen.
At an emergency Parent-Teacher Association meeting held via Zoom conferencing facility in the evening of Tuesday, parents hit hard at the school management, describing the Board of Trustees as “too profit-oriented” with no regard for the mood of the nation or the global economic agony triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.
Chaired by the PTA Chairman, Temilola Achakobe, the meeting became rowdy as parents took turns to hit at the Principal, Andrew Jedras, who tried hard to sell the position of the Board, claiming that the fees were reasonable and fair for the services offered.
Parents cited other top private schools such as Corona School and Greenspring School among others who charge about N60,000 per month for virtual lessons.
A parent, who simply identified himself as Ben, told our reporter that the parents were willing to pay for value and would not submit to exploitation.
“The virtual lessons are deployed using the conferencing apps and with just three lessons per day with the usual connection challenges,” the parent said.
Atlantic School, located in Epe area of Lagos State, is one of the highest-paying secondary schools in Nigeria with annual fees higher than what most private universities charge.
The annual fees per student is N4.5 million. (The Witness)
