Parents and school operators are bracing for a bruising new academic year as public and private schools nationwide resume today amid steep tuition hikes driven by inflation and soaring operational costs.

For parents, the 2025/2026 session brings another round of financial strain, with fee increases ranging from 25% to 100% depending on the school. For school owners, particularly in the private sector, higher costs of electricity, fuel, transportation, and teaching materials have made upward adjustments inevitable to sustain quality.

Nigeria’s inflation rate stood at about 24.5% year-on-year in early 2025, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), with food inflation above 20%. Rising transportation costs, linked to volatile fuel prices, have worsened household pressures, especially in peri-urban and rural areas.

School fees have risen sharply as a result. A 2025 survey of private schools shows that mid-tier primary school tuition has jumped from an average of N40,000 per term in 2020 to about N120,000 in 2025, an increase of 200% in just five years.

Elite institutions have also adjusted fees aggressively. In Lagos, secondary schools in Ikeja, Ikoyi and Lekki now charge between N2.7 million and N3.5 million per term, up from about N2 million. Rosemore International School, Ikeja, increased fees from N350,000 to N600,000, while Longford School, Maryland, jumped from N400,000 to N750,000. At Laurel Academy, Oregun, parents now pay N450,000, up from N225,000.

Some schools have also raised transport fees to cover fuel costs, further compounding parents’ financial burdens.

The sharp hikes have forced many families to make hard choices. A LagosMums survey in mid-2025 found that about 35% of respondents had transferred their children from private to public schools due to affordability.

Public schools, though not free, remain significantly cheaper, charging between N5,000 and N25,000 per term depending on the level. Despite inflation, they are increasingly seen as an option for middle- and low-income households, especially with ongoing reforms in infrastructure and teacher training.

Still, research by the Nigeria Education Research and Development Council (NERDC) shows that public school fees have nearly doubled in the past five years, mirroring wider inflationary pressures.

For mid-tier private schools in urban centres, tuition now ranges from N400,000 to N900,000 yearly, with boarding and feeding adding N300,000 to N900,000. Elite schools charge N2.5 million to N5 million per year, with boarding and feeding fees topping N2 million.

By contrast, public schools charge between N15,000 and N35,000 yearly, with boarding fees ranging from N20,000 to N50,000. Parents typically spend N5,000 to N20,000 on uniforms and incidentals.

Given Nigeria’s average yearly household income of about N2.5 million, even mid-tier private schooling often consumes 25–40% of family income, far above the World Bank’s affordability threshold for education spending.

Faced with these realities, many families adopt creative survival strategies. About 45% of parents surveyed by LagosMums said they buy uniforms and textbooks in bulk ahead of school resumption; 32% negotiate installment plans with schools; 27% seek loans or community contributions; and 18% move children to cheaper schools or delay payments.

A Lagos mother of three, Mrs. Folashade Adeniyi, explained: “We save by bulk-buying school supplies and use ‘Esusu’ to spread costs. Still, fees are so high that sometimes we must downgrade schools or delay payments.”

Private school operators argue that fee adjustments are unavoidable. The National President of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Yomi Otubela, said members face the same inflationary pressures as households.

“Schools, like every other sector, are affected by inflation, high utility bills, and rising costs of educational materials. Adjustments are not arbitrary; they are made only when survival is at stake,” he said.

Otubela noted that many schools now offer flexible payment plans, scholarships, and cost-cutting innovations such as alternative energy sources and resource-sharing to cushion parents’ pain. He urged the government to support schools with tax reliefs, subsidised materials, and special education palliatives to ease pressure on both parents and operators.

Similarly, the National President of the Association for Formidable Education Development (AFED), Orji Kanu, warned of looming school closures. “A colleague recently told me she could no longer cope and was shutting down. School owners are struggling just as parents are. We need government intervention, including soft loans, to keep schools afloat,” he said.

Education analysts insist that the crisis underscores Nigeria’s chronic underfunding of education, with government allocation hovering around 7% of total expenditure, far below the 15–20% benchmark recommended by UNESCO.

Without greater public investment and regulation of tuition increases, experts warn, more families will be priced out of quality education, deepening inequality and straining public schools already stretched beyond capacity.

As the 2025/2026 session begins, the widening gap between rising costs and stagnant household incomes highlights a pressing national dilemma: keeping education affordable and accessible in an economy where inflation shows no signs of abating.