Abia parents recover illegal graduation fees from schools

Some public and private schools who allegedly collected illegal fees from pupils for the 2026 graduation celebrations have started refunding the money to pupils and their parents, in compliance to Abia State government’s directive.

The State government, through the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Goodluck Ubochi, weekend, threatened to impose heavy sanctions on  any public or private school found collecting unauthorized graduation levies or fees from pupils and students, in violation of existing regulations.

The State government reiterated its ban on graduation-related charges except for pupils in terminal classes of Primary 6 and students in Senior Secondary School 3 (SS3).

Following the information, many parents who had already paid fees to their children’s schools, have started making demands for refunds, while some others asked the private schools to subtract them from their children’s statutory school fees.

In response, some of the schools have started refunding the fees to the parents.

The fees being refunded to the parents in Umuahia and Aba, according to findings from DAILY POST, range from N2,000 to N12,000 per pupil.

Two of the parents, who spoke under anonymity, said they were prompted to approach their children’s schools for refunds, on learning that the State government had abolished such payments.

The parents described the state government’s policy as a financial relief for them.

Abia parents recover illegal graduation fees from schools