Abu Dhabi issues advisory to private schools on fee hike
ADEK lays down conditions for requesting extraordinary increase in tuition charges
Abu Dhabi: Private schools in Abu Dhabi cannot raise tuition fees even in exceptional cases and must meet a set of conditions before seeking approval for the extraordinary increase.
These rules are part of the new education policy recently issued by the Department of Education and Knowledge - Abu Dhabi (ADEK).
The school fees must be based on Abu Dhabi’s Education Cost Index.
Conditions for approval
To qualify, schools must demonstrate financial losses over the past two years and provide audited financial statements for this period.
Additionally, they must have been in operation for at least three years, hold a valid licence, and maintain an occupancy rate of at least 80 per cent.
If approved, schools are limited to one exceptional fee increase per academic year.
The department emphasised its right to reject any request for fee increases, underscoring that tuition fees should be collected in at least three instalments - going up to 10 instalments - throughout the academic year.
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Registration fees
According to the new policy, schools may collect the first instalment a month before the start of the academic year.
The policy also authorises schools to charge a registration fee of up to five per cent of the approved tuition fee. Schools may collect this fee from enrolled students up to four months before the academic year begins, and it must be deducted from the student’s final tuition fees.
No financial guarantees
Additionally, schools are prohibited from requesting or accepting any financial guarantees from parents as a substitute for tuition payments. Schools may not request a pre-deposit, initial application, or first-time registration fee from parents before the student is enrolled.
Any special fee discounts offered to staff members enrolling their children in the same school must include clearly defined amounts, timing, refund policies, and other terms in their contracts.
Categorising all fees
Under the new policy, schools are required to itemise tuition fees into six components — tuition fees, educational resource fees, uniform fees, transportation fees, extra-curricular activity fees, and other fees. Schools must disclose these components to parents during registration.
The policy also allows schools to charge administrative fees for board exams, provided they are clearly justified and disclosed on the school’s website. These fees should cover costs such as document processing, supervision, and mailing.
Embassy-affiliated schools
ADEK allows embassy-affiliated private schools to apply for an exceptional fee increase, subject to requirements such as justifying the increase, obtaining approval from the school’s Board of Trustees, and providing consent from the relevant embassy or consulate, if applicable.
According to the new policy, schools must post detailed tuition payment schedules on their websites and may enter agreements with parents regarding adherence to these schedules.
Normal fee hikes
Under normal circumstances, schools are only allowed to increase fees according to their rating in school inspections, called Irtiqaa, in conjunction with the ECI.
As of the last regulation, ‘outstanding’ schools had the option to increase their tuition fees with a maximum cap of 3.94 per cent; ‘very good’ schools qualified for a 3.38 per cent tuition fee addition; schools rated ‘good’ were permitted to apply a 2.81 per cdent increase, and schools rated ‘acceptable’, ‘weak’, and ‘very weak’ could only implement a maximum tuition fee hike of 2.25 per cent – in line with the ECI score.