First off, I’ll like to congratulate you for seeking information on how to register private nursery and primary school business here in Nigeria. Starting a private Nursery and primary school takes a process and these processes must be strictly adhered to.
You know why? Most school owners today never took the time to consider this step. They build a school and opened their doors to students without seeking the required approval from the government
This is against the law, and sadly most of them don’t see any wrong in it.
But you have chosen to make a difference, and that’s commendable, so congratulations once again.
In this article, I’m going to walk you through on how to register and start your private nursery or primary school right here in Nigeria, the cost implications, how to get it approved by the government (Ministry of Education) and all necessary steps and advice to be taken in the process of kick-starting your own private school.
With the information we shall be providing, you will see the processes involved in registering your schools right here in Nigeria.
It’s not only very easy but quite cheap too.
So you don’t have to worry about not being able to afford it. At most, it should cost you not more than N10,000. That’s an estimate; often it’ll be less than that.
First off, before delving into how to register your private school with the government, let me give you a little advice – it’s nothing novel really, and you can skip this section if you don’t want to hear it by scrolling down.
For those who might be interested, well here it is:
Steps On How To Register And Start A Private Nursery and Primary School In Nigeria
“As a school owner, it’s important you find your niche – especially if you’re just starting out. Find where your passion lies. Do you love working with children at the kindergarten level, primary level or secondary level?”
Finding your niche will go a long way to help you.
Don’t be a jack of all trade like most school owners and start building schools at all levels – that will not help you in the long run. The best thing is, find an area, become specialized in it and parents will love you all the more.
That’s my one cents though, and you can take it or leave it – that’s up to you.
Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I’ll now walk you through the process of registering your school in Nigeria.
Are you ready to start your private nursery and primary school? do you have all it takes? then read carefully below.
How To Register Private And Nursery School Business In Nigeria
Pick A Name For Your School.
Before going for registration, you should select a name for your school. This is the name that will be registered. I’ll advise you to select at least two names. There is every chance that your chosen name may have been registered already, so having an alternative may be helpful.
Tips On How To Pick The Right Name
A business name is not only what your business will be called, your business name also represents your brand, communicate your value and tells your business story. As such you might want to be careful taking this critical step.
I’ve seen lots of people name their school whatever they like or even name it after themselves. I’m not against naming your school after yourself or a loved one but it is not professional. If you want people to take your school business serious you should avoid that naming approach.
In choosing a business name, look for a name that will be memorable. One that people can easily remember without difficulty. This will help you in the long run as people can easily recall your business especially when they want to refer your school to others.
As a rule, your business name must he easy to pronounce and spell. If you have to explain or spell your business name each time you talk about it to others, then it’s probably not suitable.
Your chosen name must not contain federal, government, state, national or any other official title as it’ll not be approved.
After picking your school name, you might want to check for its availability online. This step is crucial especially if you’ll want to create a website for your school later in the day.
Website names are called domain on the internet. To check if your domain will be available, visit a domain registrar like whogohost (Nigerian Hosting Company) bluehost (Foreign) and check for availability. You can even register it immediately, so others don’t register it before you. It costs money though. You can get a web designer to do it for you at a very cheap rate (less than 30,000 Naira)
Visit the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) office.
After picking your school name, you can now go to any branch of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) office to register your business.
You’ll be given a simple form to fill. After completing the form, you’ll be required to pay a sum of N500.
After submitting your form, the CAC will then search for the availability of your business name. If it is available, it will be reserved for you so that others will not be able to register it again. This will often take about two weeks.
After the two weeks of intensive search, your business name will be granted to you if it is available, but if it is not, you’ll have to repeat the above steps (including fee payments) until you find an available one. Usually, the CAC will suggest a few available options for you so that you might go will their suggestions or think up a new name and check if it’s available.
Once your name has been approved, you will be given a registration form. Information usually required include the name of the business, the name of business owner(s), address, nature of the business and two passports. Fill in the necessary details and submit it to the CAC office. You’ll also need to pay another fee usually N500.
It’ll take another two weeks before you can get a response from the CAC. If successful, you’ll be issued Certificate of Business Name Registration. This certificate is a proof that your business has now become legal in Nigeria.
You can see how easy it is to register your nursery or primary school business in Nigeria. And it doesn’t take much time too, usually a month for the whole process.
How To Get Your School Approved By The Government
To avoid embarrassment from government agencies, it’s better to get government approval before opening your doors to students as it’ll only hurt your reputation if your school is suddenly shut down by the government over unapproved issues.
Get A Land or Building In A Strategic Area (Residential Preferably)
Getting a land would be vital in the process of staring up your private school, it would be wise to acquire strategic areas that would not cost too much say between 500,000 to 2,000,000 Naira, avoid isolated areas where people are not living, parents and guardians would avoid such places at all costs.
Well if you do not have the financial capacity to get a landed property, you could rent a space, a bungalow would be fine. You would be surprised that 70% of private school owners started with a rented building before erecting their structures so this should not sound absurd.
Getting the right building style is important. The government requires that each school must be a purpose-built bungalow style. Though you may build yourself as a storey so long as you keep the nursery and kindergarten children on the floor section.
It’s important you have at least 15 rooms all painted bright warm colors for better learning experience. He 15 rooms is not necessarily for students alone, it may include administrative blocks, library and so on.
Registration of School Name
You may skip this step if you have registered with the CAC as given above.
To register the name of your school, you will have to write to the state ministry of education. This letter should contain the name you wish to use for your school.
Site Inspection of Proposed Site
Once your school is registered the ministry of education will send inspection officers for site inspection. Your classrooms, toilet and administrative blocks will be inspected to ensure its fit for learning.
If successful, the site inspection officers will advise you to obtain the approval form. This form usually cost around N25,000.
Approval Inspection
A second team will be sent in to inspect your school again after you submit the approval form. This is the approval test. Your textbooks, curriculum and others will be inspected.
This is usually the last step and if successful, your school will be approved.
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Also, if you have any question as regards steps to be taken on how to register and start your own private Nursery and Primary school business in Nigeria, you can scroll to the comment section below, post your questions and we shall respond as soon as we get it.
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