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Parents protest over fee hike at Sharjah school

Sharjah - Over 450 parents sign online petition against CBSE school.

No parent in the UAE would like to compromise on expense for children's education. Majority are investing a little more than what they could in school fees to offer their children quality education. But are schools trying to cash in on with this trend, especially seen among the expatriate community?
According to parents, a school in Sharjah has been consistently hiking the tuition fee every year, making it practically unaffordable for many.An Indian curriculum school in Sharjah announced another 13 per cent hike in tuition fees for 2016-2017 academic year after a whopping 23 per cent increase in tuition fees last academic year.The school's decision has left the parent community fuming, who alleged the principal failed to keep his word.
However, an official statement from the education group that manages the school said: "We remain committed to maintaining an open dialogue with our parents. Since 2011 the Ministry of Education approved fees for the school has been discounted for our parents. The Initial discount to parents was 50 per cent. Over time the discount provided to our families has decreased to 45 per cent, then 35 per cent and then to a 20 per cent discount for this current academic year. We have consistently communicated the reduction of tuition fee discounts to our families ahead of the academic year and we have continued to do the same for 2016-2017. We have now communicated to parents that for the next academic year fees will be discounted by 10 per cent from the MOE approved fees. We have taken this phased approach to reducing the discount so that our families are able to plan for the future."
Over 450 parents have signed an online petition on ipetitions.com requesting that the school to retract the decision, following which the school management convened a meeting on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson of the group to which the school belongs has clarified to Khaleej Times that the fees are aligned with the fees approved by the Sharjah Education Zone. The Ministry of Education, however, states that if the schools meet the standards of education and infrastructure set by the ministry, they have the right to increase fees."The hike was the highest for the academic year 2015-16, with a whopping 23 per cent. We did raise our concerns to the school then, and a verbal guarantee was given by the principal, wherein he stated that the fee will not be hiked in the next year. But it was hiked by 13 per cent again," said parent Prabhat Antony, whose son studies in Grade 5.
However, the parents were made aware of the hike by a circular from the school. A circular signed by the principal on December 14, 2015, stated: "The management has decided to offer a discount of 20 per cent of the tuition fee approved by the ministry as against the current 35 per cent."
The circular also advised those parents who are not willing to continue in the school to apply for transfer certificates. According to information available in the school calendar, it is visible that the school hiked its fees by 10 per cent in 2013-14 and by 18 per cent in 2014-15.
Indian national Manoj Shetty, another parent whose child is in Grade 2, said: "The fee hike notice given to all parents have literally given us lot of sleepless nights and worry. Initially when the school started with the ministry approved fees, there were only very few students in the classes. The school was forced to reduce the fees to 50 per cent to attract the students."
The parents said that the school hiked its fees after it began doing well. "But the current increase is beyond the limit and it is turning to be out of our control," added Shetty.
Prabhat also said that the primary reason the parents didn't raise excessive concerns last year was because they could afford the new fees. "But with the current market conditions that are not very encouraging for jobs and businesses, we can't invest so much in our child's education," he added.
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com