LAFIA — Five weeks into the new academic session, some pupils in Nasarawa State have yet to return to school as parents struggle with rising fees and the cost of living.

In Lafia, the state capital, school-age children were seen on the streets during school hours on Monday morning. Some private schools have reportedly raised fees by more than 30 per cent, and some pupils who had resumed were sent home over unpaid fees.

A civil servant, Paul Dangana, said his children would stay at home until his October salary was paid. A POS operator, Nuhu Jalal, said he had to save extra money to pay his children's higher fees on time.

Private school owners blamed multiple taxes and levies from the state and local governments, as well as rising running costs, and said fees are their main source of income. A former Majority Leader of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Abdulhamid Kwarra, urged parents to enrol their children in schools they can afford rather than keep them at home.