The N42m per annum fees charged by Charterhouse, a newly established school in Lekki, Lagos.
Charterhouse, a British independent educational institution, will open its first African school in Ogombo, Lekki, Lagos, in September.
According to its website, the Charterhouse Family of Schools is a name that has been at the forefront of British education for more than 400 years.
Recently, the school, which will be starting with its first set of students (year one to year six) in September 2024, got 70 hectares of land in the Lekki to build the first African version of Charterhouse UK in Nigeria.
The school, on its website, explained, “Our pioneering campus has been designed to support a learning experience at the highest international standard.
“At Charterhouse Lagos, we are rethinking education for the 21st Century. We are driven by enlightened ideas and evidence-based methods of effective learning. We believe in empowering skilled teachers to create a dynamic, respectful and tolerant environment where children are inspired to achieve.”
But in a viral post by one Sisi_Yemmie on X, she analysed that the admission fee was N2m while the fee was N42m but to be discounted to N31.5m for founding pupils.
However, a media consultant to Charterhouse, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak on behalf of the school confirmed that the fee was indeed N42m per annum, saying the fee had been institutionalised over 400 years.
He maintained that the establishment of Charterhouse in Lagos would boost educational tourism as parents in other African countries would bring their children to Charterhouse Lagos instead of travelling long distances to the UK.
“Charterhouse UK charges similar money and this is an affiliate in Lagos the first Charterhouse in Africa, located in Lagos and they are building the same structure in the UK. So, they have to charge the same thing they charged in the UK. There is also a demography that goes to that school, more Nigerians are going there so they felt why not bring it to Nigeria for other African elites so that people can send their children from South Africa, Ghana, and others. They don’t need to travel a long journey to the UK for eight hours. They replicated what they charge over there and it is even cheaper in Nigeria. They are even charging in naira. That is going to have a huge effect on forex.
“The fee has been institutionalised for over 400 years and has produced five prime ministers, and top politicians in the UK. The Father of George Washington went to Charterhouse and that is the kind of legacy they are bringing to Nigeria.
“For them not taking it to Abuja shows that it is not targeted at politicians. Most of the children I know who went there are not politicians’ children.”
He emphasised that the school already had more than half of its staff as Nigerians.
“We are not just any school” Charterhouse defends N42 million fee, Netizens react
The management of the Charterhouse, a newly established school in Lekki, Lagos has revealed why the school charged N42m as fee per annum.
Charterhouse, a British independent educational institution, will open its first African school in Ogombo, Lekki, Lagos, in September.
According to its website, the Charterhouse Family of Schools is a name that has been at the forefront of British education for more than 400 years.
However, many Nigerians had described the fees as extremely outrageous and also a waste of scarce resources for any parent to pay such a huge amount of money to sponsor just a primary school pupil in an economy such as Nigeria’s where the majority of citizens wallow in abject poverty and the minimum wage is just N30,000 per month.
A netizen on X who lamented the high fees, @Sire_sammie wrote, “I have always told parents that the quality of education your child is getting is directly proportional to the salary of the lowest-paid teacher in that school. If you are paying N42m/annum and the salary of the lowest paid teacher is N50k/month, that is the quality of education your child will get.”
Another user, @SegunAK01, added, “How many people would come to earn naira from the best universities? I would rather keep that money and send my child to quality tertiary school with my savings and establish him later.”
@Ibidunnn, said, “This is a disgrace to the government and Nigeria. So the UK has to build a standard school that you can’t build for yourself and they will be teaching kids Queens English, nothing local, while other African countries are flushing out colonial mentality, una dey embrace am full time.”
Justifying the fee, the director of Communications, Admissions and Marketing of the school, Damilola Olatunbosun told the Nigerian Tribune that Charterhouse is a value-driven world-class educational institution.
Olatunbosun, “Charterhouse is not just like every other school anywhere globally but a prestigious and value-driven world-class educational institution that parents, who love quality and second to none education will always want their children to be.”
Despite the criticism, he stated that many parents have expressed interest in enrolling their children, adding that they are not surprised about our fees as it is within what they can afford.
“Some parents are here in Nigeria and some are based abroad. And they know the quality of education we will give to their children. It is about value and not whether the fees are high or not.
“They know it will cost them more if they are to send their children abroad and get the same quality and value we will give them here in Nigeria. The foreign exchange and the associated costs as well as nearness. ”
He added that there is no educational institution in the country with the facilities of Charterhouse, adding that the school would be of the same value as other high-profile UK-based schools.
“Even though we are yet to commence academic activities and we have not also done with our construction works, no school in Nigeria has the facilities we have already put in place.
“And it is not all about physical structures in Charterhouse, but also about quality, both academic and extra-curriculum, and value for our learners.
Schooling in Charterhouse Lagos will be the same as in Charterhouse UK or any other high-profile UK-based school. The only difference is that the Chaterhouse here will be immersed in the Nigerian culture thereby giving our students the best of British education in a multicultural environment.
“So, we are not just any other school, and many prominent Nigerians, who are either products of Charterhouse or have any of their children or relations attended the school in the UK are very glad that Charterhouse is now here in Lagos Nigeria.
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“Even here in Lagos, there are some schools, for example, that charge in millions of Naira per annum while some in hundreds of thousands and yet some others charge something lesser. So, it is now left for parents to decide which one to enrol their children based on the value they want and their purse.
“We are building on 70 hectares of land in Lekki and it will cost us over $150 million at completion and that is why we are very sure that by the time we are done, people will appreciate us better. So, those who want quality and are familiar with Charterhouse know why their children must come to our school.
Taking on the possibility of the school reducing its fees in response to the public criticism, “education is like somebody who is hungry and wants to take lunch and go to a restaurant where a plate of food is N5,000 and another go elsewhere to take the same size of food at just N2,000 and yet another go elsewhere where he or she will get it for N15,000 or more.
“Though the food may look alike, their value will never be the same. So, it is about providing value for money and that is what we do at Charterhouse.”