How to start a school in Nigeria

Over 13 million children are out-of-school in Nigeria. Even among those who go to school, many do not have access to quality and affordable education.

Hence, the proliferation of privately owned schools in Nigeria. Yet, the quality education gap remains huge, and many

If you are looking to start a school in Nigeria, the out-of-school population in Nigeria and the number of births recorded daily point to the fact that the education business is a good business to venture into in Nigeria and a very lucrative one at that.

But the question you would want to ask is “how do I start school in Nigeria”? Rest assured; we will find answers to this question below.

How to start a school in Nigeria

Determine if it will be for-profit or nonprofit

You most likely want to start a for-profit school business in Nigeria.

But there are some schools that are nonprofit and are funded by grants and are run by a board of directors while for-profit schools are run by a proprietor or school head and they make money through school fees of students.A

Also Read: How to register a school in Nigeria.

The choice of the type of school you want to start in Nigeria and the model is up to you.

Determine the grade levels for your private school

If you’re inexperienced in the education space or want to start small, open a private grade school that offers grades K-5 (kindergarten to grade 5).

A small school will be easier to run, require a smaller location, and have a lower population than you can manage. You may want to start a larger school, opt to offer grades K-12 but I will advise that you start with fewer and lower grade levels, and add upper grades over time.

Decide if you’d like to manage a day school or a boarding school.

Boarding schools take more financial input and more work, but the students tend to become deeply involved in their communities and form close professional bonds with their teachers.

But for starters, you may start with a day school where students spend 7 – 8 hours in the school and go home and include boarding options later. You may also want to consider the Montessori school model.

Montessori schools offer children a discovery-based model of academic experimentation and learning. Get a building for your school Next in how to start a school in Nigeria is to get a building for your school.

You may want to rent a place for starters but preferably, you should get a leased space if you cannot acquire a property from the start.

Then make sure the space is conducive for learning. For example, you must provide chairs, tables, and other learning materials like boards, board cleaners, markers, etc.   

Also, facilities like running water, a well-equipped sick bay, and well-maintained conveniences. You may also want to provide bus services for your pupils when starting a school in Nigeria or you may decide not to, depending on your pocket.

Parents would usually require some bus services for their convenience and this could serve as another source of income for you.

Upon registration of your school with the ministry of education, they would give other specifications as to what should be provided by you before your school can be registered with them.

Get your school registered

In this post, I talked extensively about how to register a school in Nigeria. Basically, to register your school, you need to, first of all, register your school as a business name or a limited liability company.

Thereafter, you would register your school with the ministry of education of the state where the school is located. All of these would not cost you an arm and leg.

Write a business plan for your private school Create a 5-year business plan, which would include operational plans (such as financial and marketing) and educational plans (such as educational focus, curriculum, implementation, and assessment).

Your plan should also detail planned accomplishments such as expanding the school location or offering further grades. A business plan will help by setting the school on a successful path, it is very crucial in starting a school business that would be successful.

Interview and hire critical staff months prior to the start of school

As the school owner, you cannot combine all the functions, you need other people to work together with, so get your hands to help.

The first 2 staff members you should hire are the principal and business manager.

The administrator will help you in handling the educational and staffing aspects of the school plan, while the business manager will work with you on duties such as enrollment and purchasing, etc.

Promote your private school to prospective parents and students Marketing your school is an important part of drumming up interest within the community and boosting your enrollment numbers.

Advertise for students through community, church, and service groups.

You can also advertise through local newspapers and magazines and submit your school to online and private school directories.

Employ more educators and staff

Employ more staff and qualified educators to take the classes you are starting with.

If you are just the proprietor of the nursery and primary school, you do not need any formal qualifications but if you are going to be the school manager you need the minimum of NCE and experience in educational administration Teachers should have a minimum of NCE and experience in childcare education or play-work.

Teachers who are passionate about children are preferred. Open your private school and begin holding classes. Plan your opening for when other schools in the area are starting. This is usually during September in Nigeria.

WRAPPING UP

That’s it on registering a school in Nigeria.

Those are the main steps you need to take to register for a school here in Nigeria. Other information you need to have and other steps you may need to take will become clearer as you start taking these steps one after another.

Cheers to your new school!