Parents, Teachers beg FG to remove Unity Schools from TSA system

The Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) of the Federal Government College, Ijanikin, Lagos has appealed to the Federal Government to remove the nation’s 104 Unity Schools from the Treasury Single Account (TSA) system.

A Spokesman for the association, Mr Yomi Williams, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ijanikin, near Lagos on Sunday that the introduction of the TSA policy was crippling the running of the colleges.

According to him, the TSA accounting system for all government-owned institutions, parastatal agencies and ministries by the Federal Government is posing serious challenges for both the colleges and parents.

He argued that the TSA was slowing down administrative operations in the colleges and frustrating parents in their bid to process school bills of their children and wards.

“I am not saying that the introduction of the TSA should not have been in the first place. What I am appealing for is for government to exempt all the 104 Unity Colleges from this TSA bureaucracy to ensure smooth operation of their academic activities.

“Considering the way these colleges are run, which you know is a 24-hours thing, I feel they will be better off if they are allowed to run their accounts the way they have been doing prior to the introduction of the TSA.

“For instance, ever since the resumption for this academic year, a lot of our parents have been complaining about the challenges they faced trying to pay their children and wards’ school bills.

“Some of our parents who had paid before the effective takeoff of the TSA and who submitted their bank drafts were later called back by the school to come back and collect their drafts and go and pay through the TSA as the college is unable to access them,” he said.

The spokesman argued that in spite of the lofty goals of the TSA, it had affected the running of the schools and made day-to-day services in the schools almost impossible.

Williams, who was elected spokesman of the PTA at a recent election of the school’s PTA, said the priority of his team was to consolidate on the achievements recorded by the immediate past PTA.

He recalled that the former PTA built a block of six classrooms for the school to sustain the academic excellence the school was known for since the 40 years of its existence.

“Our priority is to ensure adequate maintenance of existing infrastructure and to partner with the Principal Mrs. A.A. Ibukun-Oyewole, to keep the flag of excellence flying at FGC, Ijanikin.

He said the PTA was collaborating with Ibukun-Oyewole to create an atmosphere condusive for learning, noting that up to 20 additional teachers had been engaged by the PTA on part-time basis to ensure that students were up to date in every subject.

On the recent problem arising from the PTA election in the school, Williams said that some disgruntled elements who wanted to be in the PTA at all cost were responsible for the crisis.

“They resorted to blackmail, intimidation and name-calling all in a bid to preside over the PTA but at the end, the majority had their way.

“No self-respecting parent will come out to malign a school his child or ward is a student in,’’ he said, appealing to parents to join hands with government to promote learning in the unity schools.