Members of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools, Delta State Chapter have protested against multiple taxations charged school owners in the state.
The protesters who took to the streets in Asaba, the state capital, called on Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to as a matter of urgency stop the collection of renewal fees from school owners.
The President NAPPS South South, Dr Ochuko Akpeme, said the association decided to go to court to challenge the issue of the renewal fee.
He said, “We staged a peaceful protest at the Government House to press our demand for cancellation of annual renewal levy for private schools in the state.
“The association had to go to court to challenge the issue of the renewal fee, after all, efforts for the State Government to abolish the renewal fee had not yielded positive results.
“Private schools in Delta have been grappling with the issue of multiple taxations by different agencies within the state.”
He appealed to the State Government to allow schools to carry out the registration of their students/pupils without using their prayer in court as a condition to deny them such registration, adding that the association was ready to open its doors for negotiation.
Addressing members of the association, the State Commissioner for Primary Education, Mr Sunday Onoriode, said the issues bothering on renewal fees could better be resolved through dialogue and not by court actions or protests.
Onoriode argued that the only area in their itemised allegations that concerned the Ministry was that of renewal of licence fees by the private school owners, adding that the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education had nothing to do with the multiple taxations.
He noted that renewal fee was one of the conditions that ought to have been met before any private school was allowed to register its pupils and students in Cognitive/Placement as well as other external examinations in the state.
