Parents outraged by school fee increases of up to 70%

Dubai: Parents were up in arms yesterday when seven schools in the UAE opted to go in for a fee hike ranging from 55per cent to 70 per cent.

Three of these schools belong to the Global Education Management Systems (GEMS) and have already sent circulars of the revised fee structure to parents.

A Ministry of Education official told Gulf News that the ministry is yet to provide approval for a fee revision to these schools.
"The ministry has not been notified about the hike. Some of these schools are not allowed to ask for a hike in fee structure. As per the ministry regulations a fee revision is only allowed every three years. The maximum increase should not be more than 20 per cent," said a ministry official.

A parent who has four school age children said; "When I received the circular for a fee revision from the Cambridge International School I was shocked. The school had already brought in a fee hike of 20 per cent in September 2005."

Rising costs

The circular from the Cambridge International School reads "In order for us to enhance teachers' salaries, needs, increased operating costs and continue to improve on our high standards, tuition fees will increase by 30 per cent from January 2007 and a further 25 per cent at the beginning of next academic year in September 2007." The circular further says that the Ministry of Education has been informed of this fee revision.

Similarly a circular from The Westminster School, Dubai says that in order to continue providing a world class international education for all students, it is essential to increase tuition fees by 70 per cent. The fees will be increased in two stages, 35 per cent in January 2007 and 35 per cent in the next academic year in September 2007.

"We received complaints from parents whose children study in seven different schools in Dubai regarding fee hike," said Abdul Rehman Yousef, head of the private school licensing section at the Dubai Education Zone. "We have to investigate the issue and if it turns out to be true then it will be considered as a violation. In such cases the schools will have to pay a Dh10,000 fine," he added.

"I am sure that the schools did not get the permission to implement the fee hike. It is ridiculous. It was only last year that the schools increased their fees. The ministry should come down heavily on these schools," said another parent whose two children attend a private school in Dubai.

Income static

Another parent whose children attend one of the GEMS schools said: "It is very painful. On one hand we have the exorbitant rent on the other we are burdened with a fee hike every year. Unfortunately our income remains the same. We also need to plan for our children's higher education. My daughter is in grade 10 and with this fee hike we have no other choice but to get her into another school."

According to a ministry official schools have to apply a month prior to the start of the school.