Few days ago, on national dailies, the federal government announced a support package of #200bn for private schools and hotels accross the country, whose staff strength is between 10 to 50 and with record of tax payment in their respective states. The fund was to be given to them as a non-interest loan and should be used to offset their staff salaries from month of March till date.
The same move was announced on Saturday 18th July by the Kwara State government, who also promised to support private school owners with non-interest loan or grant to pay their staff salary whose living condition had been from frypan to fire since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. The Governor added that only registered private schools with up-to-date record of tax payment shalle be considered. He therefore directed the Association of private school Owners to work on modalities for implementation of the program.
The move, if eventually implemented shall be a loudable one, and a plus to AA's people's-oriented administrative style, considering the public outcry of workers in the sub-sector who had been seriously devastated since the lockdown. But, I am not sure if this will see the light of the day due to the following reasons:
1. The month of April to August covers part of second and third term. Salary payment for those months is part of 2019/2020 session annual expenditure. Even if schools resume by September for 2020/2021 session, school fees for the previous terms won't be paid by parents. They would claim that their Wards were not in school by then. So, if money is borrowed to pay the backlogs, how can the school generate the fund for the loan repayment?
2. In educational finance, Salary payment falls within the recurrent expenditure. So, borrowing money to offset it without a guarantee of recovering it from source when the schools eventually resume is not ideal.
In view of the foregoing, , most school owner would never want to collect a loan that is not directly beneficial to them and their business. I would rather suggest the government makes it a GRANT instead of loan to school owners, if truly the targeted beneficiaries (private school staff) are to be supported. Some of them with mouths to feed at home have practically turned to beggers as a headline on one of the news papers said. Thank you.
Azeez Idowu writes from Ilorin.
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