He told local Arabic daily Arrayah that these schools have to maintain adequate capacity before applying for any hike in fees. Similarly, community schools should submit prior written approval of their embassies along with the application for fee hikes, alongside other necessary documents. In all such cases, the Ministry of Education reserves the right to reject any such application.
Al-Naama stressed that the ministry is keen to ensure that private schools collect no extra frees except what the investor is supposed to get as deserved fees.
“We are working to keep up with the sophisticated educational systems in the world in this regard and there will be no undeserved hike in private school fees. Accordingly, additional terms and conditions have been adopted to guarantee that the investor gets the deserved hike and the hike requests are studied according to clear reasons that could be measured, prepared and approved by specialised local offices,” he said.
He pointed out that the financial report of the applying school should cover three consecutive years. It is not permitted to increase school fees for the expansion of the school building, developing or updating it, as this hurts the parents. He explained that any increase in fees should not exceed 5% of the current fees.
Al-Naama said that private schools and kindergartens across the country have been given a guidebook that includes all the necessary new conditions to approve an application for school fees hike. These conditions include submitting the audited financial data of the school and according to the format approved by the ministry in Arabic. The applicant school or kindergarten should have been licensed for a minimum of five years. It should not have received a hike in the previous academic year and there should be a gap of two school years at least before the last hike, besides other administrative requirements.
