The Kano State House of Assembly on Monday…

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

Key Highlights

• The Kano State House of Assembly has reduced the tax and levy on private schools from 15% to 5%.
• The amendment aims to ease the financial burden on parents by reducing costs passed on through school fees.
• Private schools can no longer increase tuition fees without approval from the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA).
• Approved tuition fee increases must not exceed 10% of the current fees.
• Private schools are restricted to charging a maximum 10% administrative markup on official external examination fees.

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

Lawmakers said the reduction became necessary because the high taxes imposed on private school operators were often transferred to parents through increased school fees.

Speaking to journalists after plenary, Majority Leader of the House, Lawan Husseini said the amendment also bars private primary and secondary schools from unilaterally increasing tuition fees.

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 percent of the existing tuition.

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He also explained that the bill also 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 only permitted to charge a maximum administrative markup of 10 per cent above the official examination fees fixed 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.