School Reopening: Parents protest N25,000 COVID-19 test fee in Ogun

Parents of private school pupils in Ogun State on Sunday protested a demand for N25,000 as COVID-19 testing fee.

The government said it would bear the full cost of the test for boarding Senior Secondary Three (SS3) pupils in public schools.

It asked private school owners to ensure that their boarding pupils are certified COVID-19-negative.

The state said it negotiated a discount in the cost of COVID-19 test with some healthcare service providers, but that parents were free to use others.

The state said private schools could also apply for a waiver.

Hundreds of parents and their wards who visited the 54gene COVID-19 Mobile Laboratory located within the state-owned MTR Specialist Hospital in Abeokuta, the state capital, were asked to pay N25,000 per pupil.

The angry parents blocked the hospital gate, insisting their children should be tested free like their counterparts in public schools.

Vice-Chairman, Parent Teachers Association (PTA) of the Taidob College, Abeokuta, Dr Kehinde Sanwo, said the pupils should be treated equally.

“The parents here are good citizens of Ogun State. We are taxpayers.

“When we arrived, we were told to pay N25,000, whereas, some people who arrived earlier paid nothing.

“We don’t know where the decision came from. Some of us have more than two children. Why this segregation?”