Parents of students at St. Francis Catholic Secondary School, Idimu, Lagos, have accused the school management of imposing an exorbitant and unjustified fee of N390,000 per student for a mandatory leadership training programme at the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre (Sea School), Apapa.
The 10-day programme, organised annually for SS1 students, is approved by the Federal Ministry of Youth Development and is designed to instil leadership skills.
However, parents say the cost attached to the exercise has continued to rise sharply, causing outrage amid prevailing economic hardship.
According to findings, the fee for the programme stood at N200,000 per student in the 2024/2025 academic session but has now increased by about 95 per cent to N390,000 for the 2025/2026 session.
Parents further alleged that the programme was made compulsory by the school, despite growing concerns over its affordability and relevance.
The training lasts 10 days, during which parents are required to provide additional items such as toiletries, bedding, sportswear, and pocket money not exceeding N20,000.
They are also expected to purchase branded T-shirts and conduct medical tests for their children before participation.
Transportation arrangements involve conveying students from the school to the Sea School jetty in Apapa, from where they are ferried by boat to the training centre.
However, checks revealed that the Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre charges a basic fee of about N20,000 per student, covering registration, accommodation, feeding, and power supply. The Centre may also provide enhanced services at additional but modest costs.
Officials of the Centre reportedly confirmed that the total amount billed to the school for the 2026 programme is far below N100,000 per student and that it does not determine the fees charged by schools to parents.
“The N390,000 being demanded from parents did not emanate from us,” a senior official at the Centre disclosed, adding that the organisation has no role in fixing the final bill passed on to parents.
The controversy intensified after parents observed that N130,000 was included in each of the three-term school bills for the 2025/2026 session, bringing the total to N390,000.
Parents said they initially raised concerns when the charge first appeared on the first-term bill, but were assured it would not recur or would be reduced in subsequent terms.
However, the amount was repeated in both the second and third terms.
For the 122 SS1 students affected, the total sum payable amounts to N47.58 million for the programme.
Efforts by parents to seek clarification from the school management and the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) reportedly yielded no concrete response as of early April 2026.
Aggrieved parents are now calling for an independent investigation into the fee structure, alleging that over N300,000 per student remains unaccounted for.
They also questioned the programme’s continued relevance, with some suggesting it should be scrapped or made optional.
“We need a clear breakdown of how the N390,000 was arrived at. Anything short of that raises serious concerns about transparency and accountability,” a parent said.
Among other demands, parents are calling for a significant reduction in the fee to reflect the actual cost charged by the training centre, which they insist should not exceed N100,000 per student.
They also urged the school to engage parents more transparently in decision-making, stressing that parents should be treated as partners rather than “sources of revenue.”
Attempts to get official responses from the school authorities, including the Administrator, Rev. Fr. Francis Koshoffa, S.J., and Deputy Administrator, Rev. Fr. James Ocholi, S.J., as well as current and former PTA executives, were ongoing as of press time.
The situation has continued to generate tension among parents, many of whom insist that urgent intervention is needed to address what they describe as financial exploitation under the guise of student development programmes. #Securitynewsalert.com
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