Govt approves higher fees for some schools

JEDDAH: The Ministry of Education has approved fee increases for some private schools that have improved their curricula and infrastructure, while several others were turned down after failing to meet the ministry’s requirements.
The requests were evaluated by ministerial committees, with parents informed by provincial education departments of the increases, which range from SR1,000 to SR3,000 a year, a local publication reported on Wednesday.
The Eastern Province’s Department of Private and Foreign Education has outlined the increases on its website, while schools have already informed parents that registration of their children will take place under the new fee structure, the report stated.
Nouf Al-Ghamdi, the director of an international school, said the approvals were received last week, with parents informed that that they would have to pay about SR1,500 extra a year.
She said the increases were based on ministerial approvals after a committee reviewed the curriculum and school environment. A number of schools were not approved over the past four years despite completely changing their buildings and improving their academic quality, she said.
“Several parents were surprised that the tuition fees had increased, even though they were informed at the end of the school year that there would possibly be an increase at the start of the new school year,” she said, adding that many families have filed objections on the ministry’s website.
Abdulkareem Al-Saleh, an investor in the private education sector, said: “The increases that were issued had nothing to do with exploitation or greed, but are based on ministerial evaluations and school developments.” He said the ministry had rejected requests from some schools for extra fees for transport, but had approved increases for others of up to SR3,500 for changing their buildings.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Province’s education department has issued its 2015/2016 criteria for academic classes, which requires all schools to inform it of any changes, included whether there would be more or less classes.
All the country’s education departments must inform the ministry of how many students there will be for classes, so that decisions can be made on having more classes and recruiting extra teachers.
No more than 30 students should be accepted for primary classes and kindergarten, and no more than 35 for upper education classes, based on the space and capacity of the rooms. The ministry would review all applications for more teachers, the report stated.
The ministry must also be informed if any schools are not able to open on time, and provide specific dates on when classes will resume, the report stated.