Private schools in Bayelsa State will not charge first term school fees for the 2020/2021 academic session, but will only collect third term fees for the just-concluded session.

The state Ministry of Education, Nigeria Union of Teachers, and the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools of Nigeria came to this consensus during a meeting at the Education House in Yenagoa.

The meeting was imminent following the controversy over whether or not the collection of fees for the third term was justifiable in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the devastating flood which forced the government to shut down schools two weeks after resumption in October.

The Commissioner for Education, Gentle Emelah, who presided over the meeting, said the decision was aimed at easing the financial burden on parents.

He said, “For the sake of fairness, the government thought it wise to consider the parents seeing that the pandemic and the flood situation brought hardship to everyone.

“It is very necessary to ease parents of some pressure. There is the need for schools to resume and quickly round off the outstanding third term and immediately resume the first term without a new fee charged for the term.”