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50 Sharjah schools seek fee increase

The number of schools requesting for an increase is expected to increase with the education zone receiving applications till the end of the month.

Sharjah - More than 50 private schools in Sharjah have requested for a fee hike approval from the Sharjah Education Zone, Khaleej Times has learnt. The hikes, if approved for the academic year 2015-2016, will mark the second consecutive year of increases for parents. Similar fee hikes were announced at Dubai’s private schools last month.

A senior official at the Sharjah Education Zone told Khaleej Times that fee increase requests were received from 50 schools. The number of schools requesting for an increase is expected to increase with the education zone receiving applications till the end of the month.

Fee increase approvals will be granted only later, after the department starts reviewing the applications and issues permission for schools meeting the criteria. The hike, however, must not be more than 30 per cent as per an earlier decision by the UAE Ministry of Education (MoE).

The department will only approve hikes for schools which attract highly qualified education cadres and staff and provide education services that are in line with the current advancements in education. The department will also look into conditions recently issued by the MoE before permitting a fee hike.

The committee will study the applications and announce the approval and rejection lists by June. School managements are not allowed to inform parents about the hike before they receive the approval. There have been many complaints from parents about fee hike notices sent by school managements for the new academic year, the official added.

The education zone had approved school fees hikes for 60 private schools in Sharjah this current year. The increase ranged between two per cent and five per cent based on the quality of services and standard.

Annual hikes

Some parents told Khaleej Times that there are schools that send them fees hike notifications every year. They urged the authorities concerned not to approve the hike annually as it adds to their burden.

Bahar Pourya, a parent, said such hikes are unacceptable and they add to their financial burdens especially when there is more than one school-going child. “Income does not increase every year, so I request the education department not to approve fee hikes for schools that hiked the fees last year.”

“This is going to be very difficult for us,” said another parent, Savita. “We work in the private sector and we never get a hike in our income. So it’s going to be very difficult to pay more fees,” she added.

Another parent said they have received notification from the child’s school informing them that they can expect a hike in fees. When the parent checked with the education zone, the official said schools are not allowed to notify parents before they get approval.

Officials at a private school in Sharjah said last year the education department permitted them to increase fees by just two per cent which was very low compared to the quality of education they are providing and the high salary of the staff. The school that way would not be able to make any profit.

Last year, 60 private schools were allowed fee hikes of between two and five per cent in Sharjah. Similarly, 86 schools in Dubai had increased 1.74 to 3.48 per cent of their fees in 2014 after receiving a nod from the education regulator Knowledge and Human Development Authority. -afkarali@khaleejtimes.com