Dubai: The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) warned that schools charging extra fees without the authority’s approval will be penalised.
The announcement was made after parents complained about schools introducing unauthorised fee hikes.
Mohammad Darwish, Chief of Regulations and Permits Commission at KHDA, said there have recently been cases where some schools have continued with fee-related irregularities.
“KHDA does not tolerate such behaviour and has been imposing punitive actions on schools that have continued the fee-related non-adherence,” he said.
Among the schools that parents complained about was Elite English School, which introduced fees that do not follow the Education Cost Index (ECI).
Private school fee increases are determined by the Education Cost Index (ECI), which is calculated annually by the Dubai Statistic Centre taking into account the consumer price index and school operation costs, including remuneration, rent and utilities.
Based on the ECI, private schools in Dubai were given approval by the KHDA for the raising of fees for the academic year 2015-16 by a minimum of 2.92 per cent up to a maximum of 5.84 per cent, depending on their ratings following annual school inspections.
Darwish said the authority is currently in the process of regulating all the costs currently incurred by the parents at Dubai’s private schools and no extra fees can be introduced by schools without KHDA’s prior approval
“In case of a situation where schools need approval for services they are offering, they should continue to offer the services uninterrupted until the cost is verified and the approval is obtained,” he said.
The authority announced earlier that the ECI for the year 2015-16 is 2.92 per cent. This means schools rated ‘outstanding’ in the inspections can increase their fees by 5.84 per cent (double the ECI). Schools rated ‘good’ can increase their fees by 4.38 per cent (1.5 the ECI), while schools rated acceptable or unacceptable can increase their fees by 2.92 per cent.
Schools are only allowed to increase their fees based on the ECI and those who wish to do so, must get KHDA’s prior approval on all fees they are currently charging parents or planning to introduce.
